Another international mining company has entered Mozambique's burgeoning coal sector. A UK-listed company, Beacon Hill, has paid US$42m for the coal assets of a US firm, Global Minerals and Metals, at Moatize, in Tete province. The coal resource concerned is estimated to be in excess of 450m tonnes.

Among other mining sector developments, another UK-listed company, Pan African Resources, won a mining licence in April for its Manica gold exploration project. This allows the company to move ahead with its plans for development of the project, for which a feasibility study has already been completed. Although Mozambique's mining sector is now dominated by multi-billion-dollar investments in the coal sector, it is the gold sector that has hitherto been the main player. Manica province has historically been the centre of gold mining in Mozambique.