Vale Mozambique, the African coal mining subsidiary of major Brazilian mining group Vale, was again hit by protests at its Moatize coal mine, in Mozambique’s Tete province, last week.

The protestors blocked all road and rail access to the mine during the night of April 16, using vehicles, branches and boulders to form barricades. As Vale’s workers could not get to the mine, nor could any coal trains leave, operations at Moatize were completely paralysed. The Republic of Mozambique Police deployed personnel at the mine site but reported no violence or confrontations on April 16 and 17. The blockade lasted some 24 hours and was lifted on April 18.

The protesters numbered “about 500” according to the newspaper Notícias while the newspaper O País estimated them at “more than 500”, with both Mozambique journals agreeing that most were young potters who had been affected by the construction of the mine. Before the development of the Moatize project by Vale, the potters had produced clay bricks on the property that is now occupied by the mine.

They were complaining that the compensation that they had received for being moved off the mine area had been inadequate. Vale Mozambique had paid 60 000 meticais (about $1 950, or R17 870) to each of some 800 potters of the Chipanga and Nhacolo districts of Moatize town.

The miner informed the local media in a communiqué that the compensation process had been monitored by the Resettlement Commission and had taken place in accordance with the Resettlement Action Plan, coordinated by the Moatize local authority, and after a wide consultation with interested parties. It was this process that had established the value of the compensation for each potter at 60 000 meticais. From 2010 to the end of last year, the company had paid 47.1-million meticais (some $1.53-million, or R14-million) to 785 potters.

However, a local nongovernmental organisation (NGO), the Academic Action for the Develop-ment of Rural Communities, asserted in a communiqué that Vale Mozambique had originally promised greater compensation. “During the process of consultation and public participation, Vale committed itself to indemnify and compensate each person in this work to a value estimated at between 90 000 and 120 000 meticais, equivalent to three to four thousand [US] dollars.”

The NGO also accused a previous Moatize district administrator (who has since been promoted) of having taken the monies concerned. It furthermore accused the mining com- pany of treating the community with “arrogance and contempt. Vale ignored the request of the resettled families, opting for silence and, later, to send subordinate officials to address the community and seeking the intervention of the police”. It was this “arrogance and unacceptable attitudes” that caused the protest and blockade of the mine, the NGO affirmed. However, current Moatize district administrator Elsa da Barca told Notícias that she “did not see the reasons for the revolt because, on the afternoon of April 16, in a meeting with the potters, we explained, in detail, the process which resulted in the determination of the value of the compensation for their withdrawal from Vale’s production areas”.

In Brazil, Vale group executive director for human resources, health and safety, sustainability and energy Vania Somavilla told a shareholders meeting that the company was always open to talks with communities, but stated that the blockade was not the best way to reach a solution. According to the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, social and environmental issues dominated the agenda, with shareholders wanting Vale to be more involved with the communities adjacent to its operations, both in Brazil and abroad.

Vale is currently ramping up production at Moatize to its Phase 1 target of 11-million tons a year (Mt/y). Later, under Phase 2, this will be increased to 22 Mt/y. Most of the output is, and will be, metallurgical coal.