Tete province, central Mozambique, will eventually be linked to the rest of the country by four railway lines, with the construction of the Macuse and Chiúta lines to carry coal and iron ore, as well as other goods, said the provincial director of Transport and Communications.
Tete currently has two lines, the Sena line to the port of Beira and the recently completed Nacala line, both starting in Moatize, where there is a coal basin whose mines are operated by Vale Moçambique, of Brazilian group Vale, International Coal Ventures Private Limited (ICVL) of India and Minas Moatize.
JSPL Mozambique Minerais, of Indian group Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), extracts coal in the Marara deposit, another district with this type of ore.
Provincial director Romeu Sandoca told Mozambican national news agency AIM that in addition to the two new Moatize-Macuse railways in Zambézia (central Mozambique) and Chiúta-Nacala Port in Nampula (north), the province will also have a dry dock built in Cateme (Moatize).
Sandoca added that the Macuse line will include a branch from Moatize to Chitima, the district headquarters of Cahora Bassa, where there are two mining companies, namely JSPL Mozambique Minerals and ENRC Mozambique, a subsidiary of the Eurasian Resources Group of Kazakhstan, although the latter has yet to begin mining.
The Director of Transport and Communications said the convergence of four rail lines will significantly boost the growth of Tete province.
The Sena line, with an output capacity of 12 million tonnes per year is 547 kilometres long, starting in Moatize and running to the port of Beira and the Nacala line, which is 902 kilometres long, also starting in Moatize and going to the port of Nacala, with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per year.
The Chiúta line will stretch over 1,070 kilometres to Nacala and will mainly serve to transport the iron ore that will be mined in the Chiúta and Moatize basin.
The 520-kilometer Macuse line connects Moatize to Macuse in Zambézia province, with an extension to Chitima, another 125 kilometres, also to transport coal and iron ore.
The dry dock, to be built in Cateme, Moatize district, will occupy an area of 100 hectares, and will be located next to National Highway 7. It may be delivered under concession to any interested party, including both domestic and foreign companies, in order to process all kinds of cargo other than coal.
