and a variety of industrial minerals including graphite, phosphate
and dimension stone. The reserve base of some of these minerals is
quite large. This is particularly so for coal with reserves of 9.75 billion tons, phosphates at 274 million tons, titanium sands at 438 million tons and graphite with reserves of 40 million tons (17).Despite the considerable mineral wealth, commercial mining has played a relatively insignificant role in the national economy of Mozambique.
Traditionally, mining activities in Mozambique were restricted to State-owned companies. In recent years, however, private companies have been allowed into the industry, although State-owned companies are still present. Current mining activities are limited to gold, gemstones, bentonite, graphite, coal, bauxite and quarrying for dimensional stone, aggregate and cement production.
More or less all the operations are, however, small by industry standards.
In gold, the two major mines are Monarch Mine and Alluvioes de Manica, both located in Manica Province. The former is operated by Mincor Mozambique Lda, and is linked (19) to the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment (JCI) of South Africa. The latter is a joint venture between Lonrho and the State but the mine is operated by Benicon, a South African Company, under a lease arrangement (19) . Pirate gold mining is a major problem, particularly in Niassa Province near the border with Tanzania where it is reported that in 1993, some 2,500 people were engaged in illegal mining and smuggling activities in the area. Official mine production of gold is reported (20) to be about 1 ton/year. If illicit sources are
included, production is estimated to be between 3 and 4 tons/year.
Like gold, gemstone mining is dominated by illegal and small artisanal operations. Prescribed mining activities are undertaken by Geras Pedras Lapidadas (GPL), a State-owned company, which operates in partnership with Hagura of Israel. Operations have involved garnet mining at Cuamba, Niassa Province and emerald
mining at Gile in Zambezia Province. The bentonite mining
activities are undertaken by the State company, Companhia de Desenvovimento Mineiro (CDM) . Operations are on an ad hoc basis dueECA/MULPOC/LUS/21/96 Page 63
to financial, technical and marketing problems. As a result, the company has been set aside for privatisation. CDM also operated the Marmonte Marble Mining and Cutting Company at Montepuez but this too has been privatised.
Graphite mining is represented by the joint venture company Graphites de Ancuabe, owned by Kenmere Resources of Ireland, Government and the Commonwealth Development Corporation {CDC). The company commenced operations at Ancuabe, in Cabo Delgado Province, in 1994. Bauxite mining is undertaken on a small scale at Mina Alumina, at Serra de Moriangane in Manica Province. The mine is owned by Meikles and Co. of Zimbabwe to which country the bauxite is sent for the manufacture of aluminium sulphate. Other mining activities include quarrying for aggregate and cement production.
Originally under the Ministry of Construction, the country's three cement plants located at Matola in Maputo, Dondo near Beira and at the port of Nacala, have recently been privatised.
The insignificant contribution of mining to the national economy, is ironical because Mozambique has a previous history of mining. In Manica Province, there are more than 40 abandoned gold mines (1) . Also in Manica Province, a copper mine with an installed capacity of 200,000 tons per month was closed down in 1990. At the time, the mine was producing about 40,000 tons/month.
Other mines which closed down include a tantalite mine at Morrua and other several small mines. Perhaps a more significant example of the decline in mine output is the Moatize Colliery, operated by the State-owned coal mining company, CARBOMOC. The mine, after a previous peak production rate of 600,000 - 800,000 t/a, produced only 693 t/a of coal in 1993, by which time mining operations had come to a virtual standstill (18).
There are many reasons cited for the decline in mine output.
The more obvious and overriding one is the country's insecurity situation which persisted until the UN supervised elections in 1994 and which made both exploration and mining activities unsafe. More technically inclined reasons, however, include, the incomplete geological data, a previously underdeveloped and politically inclined legal and business environment, the lack of financial resources for exploration and mine development and probably most importantly, the lack of skilled human resources following the exodus of expatriate manpower after independence in 1975.
Administratively, the industry is regulated by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy which operates through a central Management Department, 10 Provincial Directorates, and the National Directorates of Geology, Mines, Coal and Hydrocarbons and the
Office for the Coal Programme. The Ministry is also responsible for
the State mining companies, the main ones being the coal mining
company, CARBOMOC, CDM and GPL which were earlier mentioned.Profile of Mining Skills
Like in the other economic sectors in Mozambique, employment patterns in the mining sector has historically been influenced
largely by the political atmosphere in the country. Following
independence and nationalisation of the industry, the State through the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy became the major employer of mining skills both in its own right and through a number of companies directly under its control.Table 1 gives the present numbers and distribution of skills in the mining sector of Mozambique. The data includes employment statistics in the major Government Departments concerned with mining activities, the State enterprises and the private sector. It does not include employment in the informal mining sector, mainly comprising gemstone and gold mining, for which statistics were impossible to obtain. It does not also include the private sector-based exploration companies.
The Government data was primarily based on the skilled manpower employed by the Departments of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy outlined earlier. Other minor Government employers of mining skills, such as the Institute of Housing Research, and the University of Maputo were also included. The main State enterprises included were the National Oil and Gas Company, CARBOMOC, CDM, and GPL. The private sector companies included Monarch and the Alluvioes de Manica gold mines, Mina Alumina Lda, Graphites de Ancuabe and Marmonte Marble de Montepuez. The two gold mines are the largest employers in Mozambique with a combined workforce of about 500.
In terms of numbers, Table 1 suggests that the mining sector in Mozambique is small employing a complement of some 217 people in skilled manpower positions. It is also observable that Government, together with the State-owned enterprises, has continued to be the major employer of mining skills in Mozambique. Of the estimated 217 skilled jobs, 131 or 60% were in State employment. In the professional (Licenciados/Bachareis) category, the fraction of skills directly employed by the State increase to about 65% or 70 out of the total of 108 personnel.
ECA/MULPOC/LUS/21/96 Page 65
Table 1: Distribution of mining skills in the formal mining sector of Mozambique
Skill category
Licenciados/Bachareis Mining Engineers Mining Proc. Eng.
Geologists Chemical lab tech Cartographer/D'men
Sources: Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, personal interviews and reference (18) .
Of greater interest, however, is the distribution of mining skills. Table 1 indicates that there is a predominance of geologists, particularly in Government Departments, but also in the State-owned enterprises and the private sector. 75% of all professionals employed by Government Departments are geologists while if the State-owned enterprises and the private sector are included, this figure drops to about 53%. Notably, there are far less mining engineers and even lesser mineral processing engineers in the mineral sector of Mozambique. The estimated combined total for this group of skills is only 29 out of 108 people. This is only 27% of the total number of people with professional skills. The