Maputo — Production at the Marrupino tantalite mine in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia should resume by March 2010, according to a press release from the Ministry of Mineral Resources.

The Marrupino mine is owned by the Highland African Mining Company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Noventa, a company based in the British tax haven of Jersey.

Noventa was affected by the international financial crisis, and as a result Highland African Mining shut down its operations in Zambezia, and laid off workers.

The Ministry says it worked with Noventa to establish new commercial partnerships, which solved the financial problem. The company appointed a new chairman and managers in June, and capital was raised which will allow the Marrupino mine to re-open.

Noventa also has the rights to other tantalite mines in Zambezia, at Morrua and Mutala. The Ministry release says these will re-open "at a later phase".

The objective of Noventa's operations is to extract and process tantalum concentrate from the tantalite ore. Marrupino has the capacity to produce 441,000 pounds of tantalum a year, and export markets are said to be guaranteed.

Tantalum is a highly corrosion-resistant rare metal, which is extremely hard and highly conductive of heat and electricity. Its main use is for electrical components such as capacitors and high power resistors, which are found in mobile phones and computer mother boards. Tantalum's resistance to acids, including those in the human body, makes it ideal for surgical instruments and implants.

Resumption of production at Marrupino guarantees 350 jobs, the Ministry says, and "sends a positive signal to the sector after the financial crisis".

Noventa believes the future for Mozambican tantalum production is bright. At its half yearly report issued at the end of June, the Noventa board said it believed that "the medium term outlook for the metal is encouraging, as demand is expected to outstrip supply in 2010 and 2011, following one third of global primary production having been withdrawn from the market in the last nine months".

"Government inventories are now exhausted and customer stocks are at historic low levels", the board added. "New projects in the Middle East and Canada are at least two years away from commercial production".

The Board also believed that the world demand for tantalum "will be pushed higher next year by an increase in the production of micro-electronic goods after a period of recession".

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