8 March 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican police have arrested about 50 foreign citizens who were illegally mining precious stones in Mogovolas district, in the northern province of Nampula, reports Saturday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
A deposit of tourmalines was discovered at Aveira, some 16 kilometres from the town of Nametil, in February. When news spread, both Mozambicans and foreigners descended on the area to dig up the precious stones.
By the time the police moved in, there were around 1,000 people involved in the illegal mining, the "Noticias" report claimed, and Aveira had become "a small illuminated city", thanks to the electricity provided by dozens of small generators.
Marketing of the stones was believed to be in the hands of a group of Zimbabweans, who had earlier been expelled from Barue, in the central province of Manica, where a similar tourmaline deposit had been discovered.
The head of the mineral resources department in Nampula, Candeeiro Bacalhau, said that as soon as his institution found out what was going on in Aveira., it called on the provincial government to restore order. 35 police and immigration officers were sent to the area.
The police now claim they have dismantled the network that was running the operation, and have confiscated a significant amount of tourmalines. Bacalhau said his department is examining these stones, while the immigration officials are checking whether the 50 detained foreigners entered the country legally.
The Mogovolas district administrator, Armando Muiaquinte, warned that illegal mining threatened to pollute rivers in the area.
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