3 June 2011
Maputo — A Mozambican private company, WW Investimentos e Participacoes, has been granted the rights to exploit tourmalines in an area of the northern province of Nampula that was previously infested by illegal artisanal miners.
The tourmaline deposit is at Maraca, in Mogovolas district. When it was discovered, it attracted artisanal miners, not only from other parts of Mozambique but from the Great Lakes region and from West Africa. The hazardous conditions at Maraca led to the deaths of some of the illegal miners.
According to a report in Friday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the government has now granted the rights to the Maraca deposit to WW Investimentos, and it is hoped that the orderly operations of a recognised company will end the illegal scramble for the precious stones.
The amount of money that WW Investimentos will put into Maraca has not yet been announced. However, the company has already started bringing equipment to the mining area, including drilling equipment and bulldozers. It will employ 21 full time workers.
On a recent visit to Maraca, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Esperanca Bias said that WW Investimentos will bring tranquility to this area, through operations that recognise basic mining and safety rules, and comply with the legislation in force.
“If we did not have this company operating here, all we would have would be enormous holes, because the illegal operators do not care about restoring the soil once they have finished their activities”, said Bias. “This leads to environmental degradation, and the costs are borne by the state”.
AllAfrica – All the Time
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Local Company Granted Tourmaline Rights