GEOLOGICAL MAPPING IN ZAMBEZIA AND NAMPULA

Mozambique is mobilising funds to implement a project to map geological resources in Zambezia and Nampula province. When funds are in place, an international public tender will be held to select a specialist company to carry out the mapping.The national director of geology and mines, Elias Daudi, told the daily newspaper “Noticias” that, despite the current financial difficulties, the ministry is continuing with its plans to draw up detailed geological maps at a scale of 1 to 50,000. He added that this will increase the government’s knowledge of the mineral resources available in the country.Daudi explained that the next stage in the mapping will follow on from a geological survey undertaken in the north of Zambezia province and the south of Nampula province. He stated, “an aerial survey of these areas has been completed and in the next phase we will be mapping at a scale of 1 to 50,000”.Daudi expected that the international tender will shortly be launched to choose the company that will carry out the work on the ground.He stressed the strategic importance of geological mapping but explained that, due to the size of the country, it was necessary to select certain areas because of to their known potential for mineral resources. He added that the high cost of mapping has resulted in only a small area being covered in detail – the only mapping carried out nationwide is to a scale of 1 to 250,000.In addition, Daudi revealed that about three quarters of the country has been covered by aerial geophysical surveys.Whilst Daudi was unwilling to disclose the cost of the mapping, he did state that the finance will be covered by the World Bank.