Contango makes first coal sale

Contango Holdings Plc, the producing London-listed natural resource development company, has made its first shipment of coal from its Muchesu Project in Zimbabwe.

The mining firm received its final approvals relating to the export of coal from the Muchesu Project in Zimbabwe from the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and has since started exporting the product.

The green light from the MMCZ marks a significant milestone for the company which has since made “its inaugural sale to TransOre International FZE, pursuant to its existing offtake arrangement”.

“TransOre has already collected initial coking coal product from the Muchesu Mine site and additional trucks will shortly be mobilised to Muchesu by TransOre, which intends to utilise its existing coal export capacity at the ports of Maputo and Beira to export the product to its international clients,” reads part of the firm’s announcement.

In July, Contango signed a new off-take agreement with TransOre International FZE, as a replacement to the non-exclusive contract with AtoZ Investments Ltd which was reported in June.

The new deal is priced at US$120 per tonne, the current coking coal price of the MMCZ.

The deal is also for 20 000 tonnes, but the order could expand if Contango is able to increase washing capacity further, as TransOre has shown willingness to increase the size of the contract.

TransOre is already gearing up to deploy additional trucks to Muchesu.

The company plans to leverage its established coal export capacity at the Maputo and Beira ports to facilitate international product shipments for its clientele.-ebusinessweekly