Uranium exploration and exploitation in Mozambique - Past, present and future

Full text: Uranium has been explored since 60th years and was exploited in underground mine in the 60th years in the north province, Tete. It was a small mine with two shafts about 80m deep. The Production stopped in later 60th. No remediation work has been done, the shafts are still open and the area contaminated. No, radiation control is in place. A project is in place to recall the failures for the past through an adequate regulatory framework and its enforcement. At this moment are two projects in exploration phase running in the sandstone bearing uranium rocks in Tete and Niassa provinces. Geophysical and geochemical airborne have been done and drilling is in place, the results are promising. The projects cover the sandstone of the upper Karoo Super group. In Mucumbura area, the upper Karoo is underlain by more argillaceous sediments and coal measures of the Lower Karoo and is overlain by cretaceous sediments and in Zumbu the upper Karoo sandstones overlap the lower Karoo to sit directly upon ancient, metamorphic basement rocks and there appears to be cretaceous cover The target is the sandstone hosted uranium mineralization within the upper Karoo of a similar type to that of the Kanhamba deposit (Zimbabwe), Mutanga-Dibwe (Zambia), Kayalekeera (Malawi) and Mkuji River (Tanzania) This project cover the upper Karoo sediments that are recognized in the adjacent countries of Tanzania and Malawi to host significant uranium mineralization. (author)