[miningmx.com] — BRAZILIAN mining giant
Vale on Wednesday raised its initial production
target for the Moatize mine in Mozambique by 76% and
expects to quadruple that result in 2012.
Moatize, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest coal project, is
expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes in 2011 and output will
rise to 6.3 million tons in 2012, sales manager Marcelo Matos
said during an industry conference in Rio de Janeiro.
The company’s previous Moatize estimate for 2011 was for
850,000 tonnes. Rio de Janeiro-based Vale plans to start
supplying its clients in October. Most of the output will be
coking, or metallurgical, coal used in steelmaking.
“Our objective is to begin production on a large scale next
year, and to begin testing the product with clients as of
October,” Matos said.
Vale, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, is expanding
its coal mining business to increase the range of products it
can offer to steelmakers, its main clients and increase the
efficiency of its transport systems.
Ships emptied of iron-ore in Asia can be filled with coal
in Mozambique for return journeys to Brazil and other
steelmaking markets.
Coking coal is used to remove oxygen from iron-ore and
provide the carbon for the carbon-iron alloy that is steel.
Vale has also made itself the world’s largest nickel producer
to supply steelmakers with the metal make stainless steel
rustproof.
During the first phase of the Moatize project, production
is slated to reach 11 million tonnes per year. About 8.5
million tonnes, or more than three quarters of output, will be
metallurgical coal. The rest will be softer thermal coal burned
in power plants.
The company plans to spend $422m on the project in
2011.
A second phase, beginning in 2014, is expected to double
output to 22 million tonnes per year.
