Ground Control 14 - Luyckx

Job siteThe EX8000-6 excavating overburden with its huge43m 3 bucket (note the EX5500-6 in the background)LARGE-SCALESUPPORTThe EX8000-6 is the largest excavator made by Hitachi. There have been recordedsightings in North America and Australasia, but none in Europe or Africa – until now.Ground Control goes to Mozambique in search of not one, but two of the giganticmining machines at Vale’s Moatize siteSince Mozambique became independent from Portugal in 1975,it has been troubled by conflict, economic fragility and famine.Sixteen years of civil war ended in 1992 and since then the countryhas made significant progress in terms of economic development andpolitical stability. The national infrastructure still suffers from colonialneglect, a lack of investment and the devastation caused by floodingin 2000-01.However, foreign investors are now showing interest in the country’swealth of natural resources and a large new mining project isattracting much attention from around the world. Vale’s Moatizecoal mine will be the flagship site in the Tete province, lying 17kmnortheast of the city of Tete (which is on the Zambezi River) and 80kmeast of the Malawi border.This region holds one of the world’s largest untapped carbonreserves, particularly for coking coal, which is used to make steel.High demand for steel worldwide has accelerated the development ofcoking coal mines in various regions, such as Russia, China, USA andAustralia, but this is the only one in Africa. Mozambique’s location onthe east coast of Africa is also strategically placed to feed the Indianand Chinese markets.However, all export growth plans would have to overcome the woefulstate of the country’s infrastructure. The Government is planning toestablish a framework for how future projects are planned and who willbenefit, to ensure all those expected to come online will get access toports and rail links.Coal producers are also looking at building a new terminal at Chinde,north of Beira, which would have the capacity to handle 18-26milliontonnes per year. The port’s construction is planned to coincide with thestart of production at Rio Tinto’s new project in 2015, after it becameVale’s neighbour by acquiring Riversdale Mining in Tete for $4billion.This is just one example of the growing competition for Vale fromother mining companies in Africa. The Brazilian company led the wayin 2006 with a concession to build and operate the mine at Moatize toexport coal via rail to Beira. Operations began in 2008, including theupgrading of 670km of railway at a cost of $375million, and it startedproduction in 2011.Vale is the second largest metals and mining company, and one of thelargest publicly traded companies in the world. It is the largest producerof iron ore and the second largest producer of nickel. In addition tothermal and coking coal, it also produces manganese, ferroalloys,copper, cobalt, platinum group metals and fertiliser nutrients.Vale is seeking to become a major global company in the coal sector.It has announced plans to invest $15-20billion in Africa between 2010and 2015. This includes a $6billion expansion of Moatize to doubleoutput to 22million tonnes per year. First production from the expandedmine is forecast for the second half of 2014.The expansion will include $4.4billion dedicated to the building ofa new coal terminal at the northern port of Nacala and a 912km-railline connected to Moatize. The deep-water port is seen as moreadequate to handle Panamax vessels (those that can travel throughthe Panama Canal) than the shallower one at Beira. The railway andport will initially have a capacity of 18million tonnes to meet Vale’srising demand for exports.Gildiney Sales, Vale’s Mining Manager at Moatize, explains theimportance of the project, “Vale has coal mines in other countries, butMoatize is the first time that we have developed one from scratch.This mine is extremely important as we aim to become the world’s topmining company in the area of steelmaking resources.”12 Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe) NVGROUND CONTROL 13