Benga coal mine

Last updated
Benga Coal Mine
Location
Location Tete
Tete Province
Country Mozambique
Production
Products Coking coal

The Benga Coal Mine is a coal mine located in Tete, Changara District, Tete Province, Mozambique. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 1.9 billion tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world. [1] The mine is operating and is currently producing prime hard coking coal and thermal coal. [2]

Coal A combustible sedimentary rock composed primarily of carbon

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements; chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originates in former wetlands—called coal forests—that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian times.

Tete, Mozambique Place in Tete Province, Mozambique

Tete is the capital city of Tete Province in Mozambique. It is located on the Zambezi River, and is the site of two of the four bridges crossing the river in Mozambique. A Swahili trade center before the Portuguese colonial era, Tete continues to dominate the west-central part of the country and region, and is the largest city on the Zambezi. In the local language, Nyungwe, Tete means "reed."

Changara District District in Tete, Mozambique

Changara District is a district of Tete Province in western Mozambique. The principal town is Luenha. The district is located in the south of the province, and borders with Chiuta District in the north, Moatize District in the east, Guro District of Manica Province in the south, Zimbabwe in the southwest, and with Cahora-Bassa District in the west. The area of the district is 8,660 square kilometres (3,340 sq mi). It has a population of 156,738 as of 2007.

In mid-2014 the mine was producing 5 million tonnes per annum, with the potential to double that. The mine is said to have state-of-the-art wash plant and surface infrastructure. [2]

The main challenge facing the mine is its ability to transport coal to India as the Mozambique government in the past has prevented its barges from using the Zambezi River. [2]

Ownership

ICVL, a joint venture of five companies owned by the Indian government comprising Steel Authority of India, Coal India, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, National Minerals Development Corporation and National Thermal Power Corporation, now owns 65 percent of the Benga coal mine. The other 35% is owned by Tata Steel, a subsidiary of Tata Group. [2]

Steel Authority of India company

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is an Indian state-owned steel making company based in New Delhi, India. It is a public sector undertaking, owned and operated by the Government of India with an annual turnover of INR 44,452 Crore for fiscal year 2016-17. Incorporated on 24 January 1973, SAIL has 71,297 employees. With an annual production of 14.38 million metric tons, SAIL is the 20th largest steel producer in the world and the 3rd largest in India. The Hot Metal production capacity of the company will further increase and is expected to reach a level of 50 million tonnes per annum by 2025. Sri Anil Kumar Chaudhary is the current Chairman of SAIL.

Coal India Largest Coal mining and refinery company

Coal India Limited (CIL) is an Indian state-controlled coal mining and refinery company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the largest coal-producing company in the world and a Maharatna company.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd,, also known as Vizag Steel, is a Public steel producer based in Visakhapatnam, India.Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) is the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), India's first shore-based integrated Steel Plant built with state-of-the-art technology. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is a 7.3 MTPA plant. It was commissioned in 1992 with a capacity of 3.0 MTPA of liquid steel. The company subsequently completed its capacity expansion to 6.3 MTPA in April 2015 and to 7.3 MTPA in December 2017. The Company is having one subsidiary, viz. Eastern Investment Limited (EIL) with 51% shareholding, which in turn is having two subsidiaries, viz. M/s Orissa Mineral Development Company Ltd (OMDC) and M/s Bisra Stone Lime Company Ltd (BSLC). The Company has a partnership in RINMOIL Ferro Alloys Private Limited and International Coal Ventures Limited in the form of Joint Ventures with 50% and 26.49 % shareholding respectively.

Rio Tinto Group acquired 65 percent of the mine in 2011 when it bought Riversdale Mining for $3.9 billion. In July 2014 the ownership changed when International Coal Ventures Private Limited acquired Rio Tinto's interest in Benga and other mines and exploration projects in the Tete province of Mozambique. Rio Tinto by this time had almost written off the assets, selling them to ICVL for just $50 million. [2]

Riversdale Mining is an Australian mining company, listed on the S&P/ASX 200. It specialises in coal mines in Africa.

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References

  1. "Tata's coalfield JV in Mozambique reports 58% jump in reserves". business-standard.com. 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Indian JV to acquire Rio Tinto's Riversdale coal assets in Mozambique". India Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.