Stacker collapse could affect coal production

Brazil-based mining company Vale has issued a statement confirming that the collapse of a coal stacker would not delay the start of coal exports from the Mozambican port of Nacala.

The mining giant has said that the incident will not affect coal production for next year, despite images on social media showing the stacker looking in an inoperable state. However, the company reported that the machinery would take months to repair.

Vale is reliant on the Nacala Corridor to reach capacity at its Moatize coal mine in the northwest of Mozambique, and expects to reach production of 11 million tonnes of coal a year by mid-2016 and 22 million tonnes by 2017, reported Reuters, adding that current output was around seven-million tonnes.

Further, the news agency highlights that Vale's Moatize project has been surrounded by logistics problems, with the difficulties in building and expanding the Nacala railway and port holding back production increases at the mine.

In addition, a source told Reuters that Vale had been experiencing problems with its wash plant at the mine site, an issue that could see it miss its production target this year.

However, Vale said the delays were part of scheduled maintenance and processes were running normally.