SIWALIKS OF ARUN- TAMAR REGION (Samyog Khanal roll no 13).pptx
Mozambique Coal 2016_Geology
1. THE COAL DEPOSITS OF
MOZAMBIQUE
PRESENTED BY ANDY LLOYD
DRAWING ON FFF PRESENTATIONS FROM:-
• JOHN HANCOX,
• LOPO VASCONCELES,
• & GAVIN ANDREWS.
2. Overview
Regional Geology
Karoo Basins of Mozambique
• Early History
• Tectonic Setting
General Geology
Tete Province focus
Exploration learnings
Summary
• So what’s in the ground
• Geology vs Economy
Elephants in the room
or
Elephant country?
3. What do we mean by coal
Geologically
• Coal (from the Old English term col, which has meant "mineral of fossilized
carbon" since the 13th century) is a combustible black or brownish-black
sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal
beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be
regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated
temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with
variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen, and
nitrogen.
Economically
• That which can be mined for economic benefit.
And for Mozambique?
• Which numbers are to be believed?
• What numbers are important?
Extractable Coal Economic Coal Un-economic Coal Geological Coal
4. Early History
First coal documented in 1859 by Richard Thornton on one of Dr
Livingstone’s expeditions.
“Mr. Thornton stated that the coal, which was dug by natives from an
outcropping seam on the bank of the River Muntizi, showed no
tendency to cake; was free-burning; contained very little sulphur or iron
although a large proportion of ash along with a small amount of
gaseous matter “
Early geological investigations in the area were undertaken by Guyot
(1882), Lapierre (1883), Zeiller (1883), Kuss (1884) and Potonié (1899).
These authors mainly described the lithostratigraphy of coal bearing
seams in the lower part of the Karoo Supergroup around Moatize.
Commercial mining in the Moatize Coalfield commenced in the early
1900s on a small scale.
26. Geology –D Seam (Upper Chipanga)
View of North wall and D-Seam
Erosional “roof” contact
Fining up sequence of a migrating channel
Resulting in a thinner coal seam
Channel 1 Channel 2
Coal Bearing Unit
46. Type log for the Moatize and Matinde
formations
1.3km
Fluvial River channel system?
Discordant
lenses
Marsh
Marsh system with thick (approx. 20-30m) coal
packages consisting of interbanded coal and
mudstone. Sandstone partings commonly display
coarsening up sequences.
Thicker upper
seams
River Channel
and Marsh
Transition zone between the underlying river
channel system with a series of abandoned
channels and the overlying marsh system with
thick mudstone dominated packages.
Discordant
lenses N+
Fluvial
River channel system with a series of abandoned
channels. Seams are less correlatable.
J,K,L,M
H,I
F,G
E
D
C
B
A
Carboniferous
VuziFm.
Glacial Glacial till deposited by melting glaciers.
Meso
Proterozoic
Stenian
Intrusive
The Tete Complex is the basement rock
consisting of serpentinised gabbro; the basement
includes intrusive stocks and plutons.
Depositional Process
Coals
Contained
Formation Stratigraphy
Palaeozoic
Fluvial
Era Period Super-group Group
Depositional
Environment
MoatizeFm.
Permian
Karoo
LowerKaroo
Post Glacial
Post Glacial outwash fans and channels. Lake
and marsh system at top of sequence containing
C-seam.
River channel system with correlatable seams.
Braided Delta
Braided delta system with interchannel coal
formation.
MatindeFm.
Geology Model
Stratigrap
hy
Coal
Analyses
Data
47. 945 Sedimentary surfaces –
improving seam correlation
Geology Model
Stratigrap
hy
Coal
Analyses
Data
58. Benga - Ply by ply CCC yield
variation
C1
C4
C3
C2
Benga – C Seam
59. 945L plys by maceral
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
C1 C2 C3 C4 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 E1 E2 E3 E4 F0 F1 G1 G2 G3 H1 H2 I L M1 M2 M3 N1 N2 O P Q S1 S2 S3 S4 V1 V2 V3
%Composition
Average of Vitrinite Average of Exinite_Liptinite Average of Semifusinite_React
Average of Semifusinite_Inert Average of Fusinite_Secretinite
68. Coal Type log
• Up to 60 coal seams in the basin
(seam >1m)
• Seams thickness’s up to 90m
• Interburdens average 40-50m
• Coal characteristics
• Sulphur – 1%
• Phos – 0.07%
• Vols – 20-35%
• Coke Yields – 5-60%
• Rank – 0.8-1.7
• Additional Thermal Yields – 10-30%
• Potential resources
• Faulted
• Seams show varying continuity
• Intrusions become more prevalent to the
east
VuziProductiveLowerMatinde
Upper
Matinde
ICVL Zambeze
ICVL Benga Vale
ICVL Tete East
Eta Star
Cahora Bassa
69. P%
S%
Fluvial River channel system?
Discordant
lenses
Marsh
Marsh system with thick (approx. 20-30m) coal
packages consisting of interbanded coal and
mudstone. Sandstone partings commonly display
coarsening up sequences.
Thicker upper
seams
0.03 0.9
River Channel
and Marsh
Transition zone between the underlying river
channel system with a series of abandoned
channels and the overlying marsh system with
thick mudstone dominated packages.
Discordant
lenses N+
0.02 1.1
Fluvial
River channel system with a series of abandoned
channels. Seams are less correlatable.
J,K,L,M 0.01 1.0
H,I 0.08 0.9
F,G 0.06 0.8
E 0.08 0.8
D 0.08 0.9
C 0.11 0.7
B 0.01 0.9
A 0.00 1.3
Carboniferous
VuziFm.
Glacial Glacial till deposited by melting glaciers.
Meso
Proterozoic
Stenian
Intrusive
The Tete Complex is the basement rock
consisting of serpentinised gabbro; the basement
includes intrusive stocks and plutons.
MatindeFm.
Post Glacial outwash fans and channels. Lake
and marsh system at top of sequence containing
C-seam.
River channel system with correlatable seams.
Braided Delta
Braided delta system with interchannel coal
formation.
Palaeozoic
Fluvial
Era Period
Super-
group
Group
Depositional
Environment
MoatizeFm.
Permian
Karoo
LowerKaroo
Post Glacial
Depositional Process
Coals
Contained
Formation Stratigraphy
Coal Characteristics
70. Product Coal
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1.3 1.35 1.4 1.45 1.5 1.55 1.6 1.65 1.7 1.75 1.8
%
WHOLE SEAM DENSITY (SG)
Schematic of Coal Seams and Yield
% of Seams in Basin Coking Coal yield
71. What about the coal, are they seams and
do they have ply´s?
72. Coking, Thermal, Domestic
What are the different types of coal?
Vitrinite bands in mixtures of
bright to dull coals within bands
of siltstone and mudstone.
73. Coking Coal – Thermal Coal - Discard
The finer you go the more coking coal you get.
It´s a question of liberation and processing efficiency – more from Mark
Cresswell later.
74. Properties of Mozambiquan coal
In general, the Mozambican Permian coals are:
• Rank: Bituminous (from high to low volatile bituminous) coals, occasionally
anthracitic
• Type: Vitrinite dominant, Very low Liptinite content,
• Ash yield : generally high,
• Minerals are finely intergrown with the organic matrix, thereby posing difficulties
in liberation during beneficiation
Petrography
• Dominance of vitrinite; Low content of liptinite (Mucanha-Vúzi) or almost
absence (Moatize-Minjova-Mutarara).
• References to the petrography of coals from other regions were found only for
Metangula coals:
• Chipanga Seam (Benga): V content of 72% (Top), 77 & 78% (Middle) 72 & 79%
(Bottom)
• Mineral-rich (28% - 48%);
• Vitrinite varying from 36% to 51%;
• Liptinite in the range 2% to 3%
75. Coal Qualities
Moatize:
• increase in rank with depth: from 1,28% in Grande Falésia (Bituminous B) to
1,51% in S. Pinto (Bituminous A).
• %VR varies from 1,16% in Top Chipanga Seam to 1,27-1,29% in Middle
Chipanga and 1,27-1,37 in Bottom Chipanga, i.e., increases with depth.
Minjova:
• %VR ranging between 1,36-1,43% - MVB (or Bituminous B) to these coals
Mucanha-Vúzi:
• lower rank than Moatize, %VR that varies between 1,00-1,10%, approximate
border between HVB-MVB (Bituminous B).
Mutarara:
• %VR between 1,93-3,86%, showing an anthracitic stage, some coal in LVB
(many dolerite intrusions)
Metangula:
• No information available on reflectance of coals from the Basin. Reports
refer to Bituminous C-D
77. Exploration Focus
Vale
ICVL
Minas de Revuboé
Beacon Hill
Ncondezi
JSPL
ENRC
JSW
ETA Star
Midwest
Coal of India Limited
KingHo
Various Private Companies
78. Resources and Reserves
Lack of reliable numbers fail to illustrate the real situation.
The Mining Directorate of Mozambique (DNM, 2012) compiled a table of
coal reserves (JORC) with the information provided by the coal companies
and with more recent updates:
TOTAL of 29,342 Mt,
• Measured/Indicated – 11,924 Mt
• Inferred – 17,248 Mt
Notes
• Numbers apply to 12 licenses only from Moatize-Ncondézi-Mutarara & Sanângoè-
Mefidézi
• Chicôa-Mecúcoè: CAMEC (2009) refers to 3,6 Bt of coal reserves (included in
Sanângoè-Mefidézi figures
• Niassa Province, no information
Data originally presented by Lopo Vasconceles in 2014
79. How much “coal” is there in Mozambique??
• Possibly >30Bt of Geological Coal
• Moatize (Vale) – >4Bt
• ICVL – >10Bt
• Minas de Revuboé – 1Bt
• ETA Star – 2Bt
• Jindal – 0.7Bt
• KingHo – 0.5Bt
• ENRC – 3Bt
• How much is extractable?
• Yield – 30%
• Interburdens – 40-50m
• How Deep?
• At current coal prices?
• At current Infrastructure costs?
Extractable
Coal
Economic Coal
Un-economic Coal
Geological Coal
30Bt
??Bt
80. Reality Check – Cost of product
Infrastructure
Rail
Opex
Rail
Fees
Port
Costs
Capex
Mining
Waste
Mining
Coal
Mining
CHPP
Rail
load out
Capex
Royalties
Taxes
Comparable to Global Average?
81. Cost components in Coal Mining
Waste
Mining
Coal
Mining
CHPP
Rail Costs
Rail Fees
Port
Costs
Current
Coal
Price
3 year
average
Coal
Price
Cost
Pit to
Port
82. 30Bt of Coal – 5% Economic
Zoom o rightExpanded on right
84. 30Bt of Coal – 25% Economic
Zoom on ightExpanded on right
85. Elephants – “country” rather than “room”
Significant resources – multiple Bt resources.
But – costs structures need to be addressed.
Mozambique Coal is part of the Southern African Karoo system, multiple
mines tackle similar challenges – learn from them.
There is now technical expertise in coal mining in Mozambique, it
should be utilised.
Going forwards – unlocking value needs:-
• The right people
• The right balance of risk – smart rather than prescriptive
• The right expertise
• Honour the geology
• Understand the products and markets
86. What does this mean for Mozambique?
Coal resource base changes on daily basis – but the geological coal
does not.
Mozambique Factors
• Mining Costs
• Infrastructure
Global Factors
• Coal Price
The Moatize basin has the potential to produce a large percentage of
the world’s Coking coal, but only if the current cost regime is reduced
and the coal price recovers.
