London-listed Contango Holdings’ Muchesu mine in Zimbabwe was officially opened by Zimbabwe President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa on August 1.

Contango owns 70% of the Muchesu coal project (previously known as the Lubu coal project), while the balance is owned by Zimbabwean stakeholders.

The project covers 19 236 ha of the highly prospective Karroo Mid Zambezi coal basin, located in the established Hwange mining district in north-western Zimbabwe. 

Previous owners have expended more than $20-million on the project, which has enabled a sizeable resource in excess of 1.3-billion tonnes to be identified under the National Instrument 43-101 standard, Contango’s presentation on the project shows.

The company is currently focused on mining from Block B2, where extensive work has also been undertaken to define the specific properties of the coal. The coal seams within Block B2 are from surface down to a maximum depth of 47 m, thus ensuring operating costs are kept competitive, it highlights.

Delivering an address at the ceremony commemorating the commissioning of the mine, Mnangagwa lauded the project as being “transformational” for the community, as well as the country as a whole.

He posited that the confidence shown by investors in the country’s progressive policies was testimony that Zimbabwe was open for business.

Mnangagwa also emphasised the importance of the coal industry to the country’s energy sector, with it feeding into Zimbabwe’s thermal coal sector.

He called for the public and private sectors to work together to modernise and further develop the country.