Swazi mine could boost rail ops

MBABANE – Government sources tell FTW that approval is imminent for the restart of operations at Ngwenya Iron Ore mine, offering a shot in the arm for the rail systems of Swaziland and southern Mozambique. “The mine has the capability of producing 12 million tons of ore,” Gideon Mahlalela, CEO of Swaziland Railways, said at a management conference last week. The mine is located close to SA’s Oshoek border with Swaziland. The operation will receive the first mining licence to be issued in Swaziland in two decades. The opening of Ngwenya mine nearly fifty years ago necessitated the construction of Swaziland’s rail system to haul ore to the port of Maputo for shipping to Japan. Operations at the mine ended in the 1970s and rail turned to other types of cargo for income, especially the transhipment of SA rail cargo using a subsequent east-west line to Durban. The company is currently engaged in talks with Swaziland’s sugar industry to transport the country’s key export, sugar, which currently travels by road.