Brazilian mining group Vale’s Moatize coal operation in the Tete province of Mozambique has again set a new quarterly production record. This was revealed by the miner in its recently released report, ‘Vale’s Production in 3Q17’. Indeed, the third quarter (3Q17) saw the group achieve its highest-ever quarterly coal production; with the disposal of all its Australian coal assets, this output came entirely from Moatize.

The Mozambique operation produced 3 213 000 t of coal during the third quarter. This represented a 5.8% increase on the 3 037 000 t of the second quarter (2Q17) and an 83% increase on the third quarter of last year (3Q16), when output came to1 756 000 t. Moatize’s production for the first nine months of this year came to 8 684 000 t, which was 122.3% up on the 3 907 000 t for the same period last year. This improved production was, the company stated, due to the improved performance of the two coal handling and preparation plants (CHPPs) at the mine. CHPP 1 increased its production by 5% and CHPP 2 by 6%, in relation to 2Q17. CHPP 2 continues its ramp-up process and hit a new monthly production record of 566 000 t in July.

Moatize produces both metallurgical (or coking) coal and thermal coal, with the former being the primary product. During 3Q17, metallurgical coal production amounted to 1 853 000 t and thermal coal production 1 360 000 t. Although up by 74.4%, compared with the 1 063 000 t of 3Q16, metallurgical coal output was actually down 9.6% from the 2Q17 production figure of 2 049 000 t. On the other hand, 3Q17’s thermal coal production was 37.7% higher than 2Q17’s and 96.2% higher than 3Q16’s figures. In numbers, 2Q17 saw Moatize produce 988 000 t of thermal coal, and 3Q16, 693 000 t.

“The decrease in metallurgical coal production in 3Q17 compared with 2Q17 was more than offset by the increase in thermal coal production, which contributed to the lower share of metallurgical coal to 58% of overall production,” stated Vale in its report. “The determinant of this lower share was a combination of the geological characteristics of the feed plus the continued optimisation of the CHPPs. We expect the share of metallurgical coal to return to between 60% and 65% of overall production. We are revising our coal production guidance to around 12 Mt (million tons), as a result of reduced stripping capacity and lower achieved equipment productivity.”

As Tete is an inland province, Moatize’s coal production has to be railed to the coast. There are two lines along which this is done: the Sena line to Beira, and the Nacala line to Nacala. The latter was developed by Vale to overcome the capacity limitations of the Sena line. The Nacala line is owned and operated by the Nacala Logistics Corridor, in which Vale retains a significant but now minority shareholding.

“In 3Q17, our logistics operations in Mozambique reached all-time records, with the continuous ramp-up of the Nacala Corridor,” reported Vale. “The total railed volume was 3.5 Mt in 3Q17, 15% higher than the 3.1 Mt railed in 2Q17 and the total shipped volume was 3.4 Mt in 3Q17, 9% higher than the 3.1 Mt shipped in 2Q17.” Both categories of volume include both the Sena and Nacala lines and their associated ports.