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South32 exercises its pre-emptive rights in Mozambique’s leading aluminum smelter

Mozal Aluminium Mozal is the only primary aluminium smelter in operation in Mozambique. Photo credit: South32

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Mining and metals company South32 has announced it is exercising its pre-emptive rights to acquire Mitsubishi’s 25% shareholding in Mozal Aluminium, Mozambique’s largest industrial employer. Mitsubishi currently holds the 25% via MCA Metals Holding GmbH with the rest of the shares owned by South32 (47.1%), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa (24%) and the Government of Mozambique (3.9%).

Depending on whether the IDC also exercises its pre-emptive rights, South32’s shareholding could increase to either 72.1% or 63.7%, giving it’s a majority shareholding in the asset.

The $250m transaction represents a strategic move for South32 as it integrates with the alumina it produces from its Worlsey Alumina refinery in Australia.

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TotalEnergies officially delays opening of Mozambique LNG to 2026

TotalEnergies has delayed the commissioning and first gas at its $20bn Mozambique LNG project from 2024 to 2026 following the declaration of Force Majeure earlier this year. The 12.88 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) onshore terminal reached FID in 2019 and was under-construction when the Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique forced TotalEnergies to shut down activity. This leaves the southern African country with only one LNG terminal to be commissioned in the first half of this decade, Eni’s Coral South FLNG. The project relies on a floating LNG (FLNG) vessel and is unaffected by instability and insurgency around the city of Palma. The 3.4 mtpa FLNG unit is expected to start producing gas in 2022 with a final investment decision (FID) on phase 2 expected before 2030. Meanwhile, there is still no visibility on the future of the 15.2 mtpa Rovuma LNG onshore terminal where FID was expected to be taken by ExxonMobil and Eni in 2020 but was also delayed following changing market dynamics and the Covid-19 pandemic. Mozambique entered the current decade with firm ambitions to become a major LNG exporter by 2025. The country was expected to reach a double-digit growth of 11.1% in 2024 and 2025 following the commissioning of Mozambique LNG. Such revisions will now have to be revised downward. Details on the Coral South FLNG, Mozambique LNG and Rovuma LNG projects are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

Chariot to work on setting up a 10 GW green hydrogen development in Mauritania

Earlier today, Chariot signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mauritanian Ministry of Petroleum, Mines & Energy to progress Project Nour, a potential green hydrogen development of up to 10 GW. Under the MoU, Project Nour has been given exclusivity over 14,400km2 of onshore and offshore area where pre-feasibility and feasibility studies will be conducted to generate solar and wind power used in electrolysis to split water and produce green hydrogen and oxygen. This deviates from the traditional splitting method that uses natural gas. “Benefiting from Mauritania’s world class solar and wind resources, Project Nour has the potential to allow Mauritania to produce the cheapest green hydrogen in Africa and to become one of the world’s main producers and exporters of green hydrogen and its derivative products, close to potential large European markets,” Chariot said in a statement today.