The president of Vulcan, an Indian group exploring for coal in Mozambique, expressed to Luse on Thursday the company’s “commitment” to “environmental compliance”, days after complaints from communities about increasing pollution.
“We have a zero harm policy. And when we say zero harm, we mean zero harm to the environment (…). All our facilities are equipped with modern equipment and available technology. Sometimes the system fails and “For this we have to take precautions, if any error occurs, I can say that we are fully committed to ensuring that no one in our community is harmed,” Mukesh Kumar said, reacting to Lusa.
The complaints come from residents of eight neighbourhoods in Moatize in the central Mozambican province of Tete, where the company mines coal. Residents complain of increased pollution as a result of Vulcan’s activities.
“Your mining and extraction practices are not consistent with the human experience protected and safeguarded by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” reads a letter from residents delivered to the company and accessed by Lusa on Sunday.
Vulcan is exploring a 250-square-kilometer area in Moatize, and the nearest settlement to the mines is at least 350 meters away, the company’s president said.
“Whenever a detonation is done, we make sure that while designing the detonation, the vibration, the noise and the cloud should not go beyond the 75 metre zone. If these things are limited to 75 metres, then I don’t think there is any risk or anything to the public which is 350 to 500 metres away from these places,” added Mukesh Kumar.
Vulcan’s president said a government team visited the exploration area this week following the complaints and the company is awaiting an official position.
“I always say that a company can even have a government license to explore a territory, but the most important thing is to get a social license to operate, which only communities can give (…). We are ready to correct our mistakes if we made them,” concluded the Vulcan president.
In the past three years alone, Vulcan has produced more than 35 million tonnes of coal annually at its mines in Moatize, in central Mozambique. The operation was bought in April 2022 from Brazil’s Vale for more than $270 million (€257 million).
The privately held Indian company is part of the $18 billion (€16.5 billion) Jindal Group and was previously present in Mozambique, operating the Chiroji mine, also in the Tete region.
Vale had been present in Mozambique for 15 years, operating the Moatize mine and 912 kilometres of railway in the Nacala logistics corridor for transporting coal; the infrastructure was also sold to Vulcan.
In May, Vulcan’s president told Lusa that he hoped to reach 50 million to 52 million tons this year and become one of the world’s largest producers.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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