Maputo, 9 Dec (AIM) – The Irish company Kenmare Resources intends to continue its operations in Mozambique, despite the invasion of its premises in Larde district, in the northern province of Nampula, by demonstrators who support fugitive presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane.
On Friday, a large crowd invaded the Kenmare main camp, demanding that the mining operations should provide benefits for the local communities.
An image shared on social media showed the moment when a light aircraft, carrying company staff, was obliged to take off again immediately after it had landed, fearing that it would be attacked by the crowd which was advancing on the landing strip.
The invasion seems to have reminded the Kenmare management of a longstanding promise to build a bridge linked the Topuito community (where the mine is located) to the Larde district capital. Community members accuse the company of not complying with its promise.
The Director-General of Kenmare, Higino Jamisse, has now promised that work on building the bridge will begin on Monday (9 December).
Cited by the electronic publication “Mozambique Times”, Regina Macuácua, the National Assistant Director of Kenmare, confirmed the company’s commitment to build the bridge.
As for the invasion of the camp, the Kenmare official said that all measures were taken to guarantee the safety of the workers and of the premises, thus avoiding any significant damage.
“So far, there has been no damage to our installations, and our activities are continuing to run normally”, said Macuacua.
Despite the commitment to advance with building the bridge, on Saturday the demonstrators invaded another camp, belonging to Transworld, a company subcontracted by Kenmare for logistical services. At the camp, the demonstrators forced staff to hand over company vehicles, which they used to carry the crowd to the town of Moma, where protests were being held against the election results.
Kenmare has been mining the heavy sands in Moma and Larde districts since 2009, producing the titanium ores, such as Ilmenite, that are the raw materials used in paints, paper, and other products.
The pro-Mondlane demonstrations are supposed to be about rectifying fraud in the general elections held on 9 October. But opportunists and criminals are jumping on the bandwagon and using the demonstrations for their own purposes.
Thus, on Friday, a large gang of rioters attacked the London-based tantalite mining company, HAMC (Highland African Mining Company), in the village of Marropino, in the central province of Zambezia. After wrecking the workers ‘camp, and stealing whatever they wanted, the assailants moved onto the mining machinery and destroyed it.
According to a report on the independent television station STV, a newly acquired crane, which cost eight million dollars, was among the equipment utterly ruined.
The company has sent a notice to the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, informing it that it is suspending all operations in the tantalite mine.
The destruction at Marropino could cost 200 HAMC workers their jobs.
Tantalite is a mineral made up of niobium and tantalum, sought after for its application in the electronics industry, in mobile phones and capacitors, due to its resistance to heat and other properties.
According to official forecasts for 2024, Mozambique was expected to produce 268.9 tonnes of tantalite, an increase of seven per cent compared to the 2023 plan. In 2022, the country planned to produce 251.3 tonnes of tantalite, while in 2021 it extracted just 178.5 tonnes and in 2020 just over 209 tonnes.
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