The Director of Mozambique’s National Institute of Mines (IMAMI), Adriano Sênvano has said at least 145 mining titles in country were revoked in the fisrt quarter of this year, APA can report on Friday.
“Among the irregularities committed by the mining companies are the deadlines for expired licenses, the failure to submit periodic reports, a fact that is a sufficient condition for revoke a license” the official is quoted as saying by state-controlled Radio Mozambique on Friday.
He added that another reason for considering a license in an irregular situation has to do with the payment of taxes by the holders that must be on the surface of their area, if it is a license for prospecting and research.
“Otherwise, if you are a production license, you have to pay the appropriate production tax, as explained,” Adriano Sênvano said.
In addition to these 145 licenses already revoked, INAMI says that there are another 323 who are in an irregular situation and therefore, at any moment, can also be revoked. In fact, they remain active only because “the withdrawal of a mining title must be preceded by a technical and legal evaluation”, which has not happened yet.
In addition to the irregularities regarding the time of the license, as well as the periodic reports, the non-regularization of the data (physical and electronic address and the Unique Tax Identification Number of the securities) on the basis of INAMI is another reason that may lead to the revocation of licenses.
Mozambique’s mining sector, particularly its substantial unexploitedcoal deposits in the central province of Tete,has recently attracted significant attention from international mining companies.
The country has vast reserves of untappedcoal and the Moatize coal mine in the Tete Province is currently the fourthlargest in the world.
The World Bank forecasted in its latest report that, by 2032, Mozambique could generate upto $9 billion in revenues from its naturalr esources, in particular coal and gas,as demand from India and China continues to grow.
CM/as/APA