Reports are continuing to come through about an attack over the weekend by insurgents in the village of Nairoto, north-west of Pemba in Mozambique’s north-eastern province of Cabo Delgado, where liquid natural gas (LNG) extraction is in full swing.
It’s not clear to whom the insurgents are affiliated.
The attack happened just before midnight on Sunday, about 15 kilometres south-west of the exploration camp of Nairoto Rources Limitada (NRL).
As a result of the attack, NRL, which is 75% owned by Guernsey semi-precious stone miner, Gemfields, has announced the immediate suspension of activities at its Nairoto camp.
This measure was necessitated by NRL’s immediate evacuation of operational employees and contractors from the area.
Mining operations more than 80 kilometres to the south in which the UK extractor also has a 75% shareholding, Montepuez Ruby Mining Limitada, are unaffected by the attacks.
Montepuez lies some 165 kilometres to the west of Pemba, the important port city and capital of Cabo Delgado.
Sunday’s attack comes well over two years after combined military operations by Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community, made up mostly of army personnel from South Africa, managed to secure the once-destabilised region in the extreme north-east of Mozambique.
LNG operations across Cabo Delgado, anchored by Exxon Mobil and Total Energies, represent more than $60 billion in foreign direct investment.
