The initial design of the project included building a mineral port at Chongoene, on the Gaza coast, for the export of the ores, after they had been processed in Chibuto. But later it was found that it would be cheaper to process the ores by building the smelter in Beluluane, near the MOZAL aluminium smelter, and exporting the minerals through the port of Maputo.
The current plan is to undertake only initial processing of the mined ore at Chibuto. It will then be sent by truck and rail to Beluluane.
The director of the project, Alan Cuddon, told AIM on Wednesday that the advantage of shifting most of the processing to Beluluane is that it will be easier to obtain the electricity needed (about 120 Megawatts), and there is also a good mineral port at Maputo for exporting the ores.
The Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources, Abdul Razak Noormahomed, said that with this new move Corridor Sands will save about 50 per cent of the initially budgeted investment, estimated at one billion US dollars.
"Transport is easier. The product will be transported from Chibuto by road to Xinavane, which is about 120 kilometres from Maputo, and from there to Beluluane by rail", he said.
Razak said that by the end of 2008, Corridor Sands is set to present its final proposal to the government, and between 2011 and 2012 it will start effective operations.
The new studies follow the purchase of the company by BHP Billiton (which is also the major shareholder in MOZAL) in 2005.
In March 2008, Corridor Sands is to submit a report to the BHP Billiton board of directors for approval.
BHP Billition now owns 90 per cent of the shares in Corridor Sands, and the remainder 10 per cent are held by the South African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
During the Corridor Sands construction phase, about 1,750 job will be created - 1,200 in Chibuto and the rest in Maputo, During its operational phase, there will be 475 jobs in Chibuto and 215 in Maputo, and a further 2,500 jobs are expected to be created indirectly.
Chibuto is believed to be the largest deposit of titanium bearing sands in the world, containing more than 300 million tonnes of ilmenite (iron titanium oxide). It is expected that the ore will be extracted at a rate of a million tonnes a year, and the mine will operate for more than a century.
SOURCE: AIM
