A Deadly Ring of Coal: VALEs poisoned gift to Mozambique

The report documents a pattern of violence, land-grabbing, and pollution associated with VALE Moçambique's Moatize coal mine and Nacala Logistics Corridor. It details the forced resettlement of thousands of families, the use of state police to repress protesters, and severe health crises resulting from air and water pollution. The document also highlights VALE's legal battles to avoid disclosing environmental monitoring reports and its planned sale of assets to Vulcan Minerals.

• VALE Moçambique resettled 1,365 families in the Cateme and 25 de Setembro areas for the Moatize mine, and another 2,000 families along the Nacala Corridor, many of whom relied on subsistence agriculture and cattle raising.
• Resettlement areas suffered from unsafe housing, including faulty electrical and sewage systems, and land that was unsuitable for agriculture due to poor soil quality and lack of water access.
• The Mozambican Police (PRM) and the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) have been used to repress protesters through beatings, rubber bullets, live ammunition, and arbitrary detentions of local brick makers (oleiros).
• Mining operations have deprived local communities of water by diverting, polluting, or burying rivers, specifically affecting brick makers and peasants from Primeiro de Maio, Liberdade, and Paiol since the expansion of the Moatize III Mine in 2019.
• Environmental pollution in Moatize is severe, with 2021 laboratory analyses in the Liberdade neighbourhood showing water and air pollution three times above legal limits; specifically, Cadmium (Cd) levels were 0.009 mg/l, exceeding the 0.003 mg/l limit set by Mozambique and the WHO.
• Pollution from the mine is linked to widespread respiratory issues and tuberculosis among the local population, with community members reporting coughing up 'black stuff' described by doctors as mine dust.
• VALE has repeatedly appealed court decisions that mandated the release of public interest information, including environmental monitoring reports from 2013-2020 and Memorandums of Understanding with the government and communities.
• VALE announced a binding agreement in December 2021 to sell the Moatize coal mine and the Nacala Logistics Corridor to Vulcan Minerals (part of the Jindal Group) for US$270 million, pending government approval.

APA

Valoi, E. (2022). A Deadly Ring of Coal: VALEs poisoned gift to Mozambique. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/vale-mozambiquea-deadly-ring-of-coal/

Chicago

Valoi, Estacio. A Deadly Ring of Coal: VALEs poisoned gift to Mozambique. Friends of the Earth International, 2022. https://www.foei.org/vale-mozambiquea-deadly-ring-of-coal/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Valoi |first1=Estacio |title=A Deadly Ring of Coal: VALEs poisoned gift to Mozambique |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=11 March 2022 |url=https://www.foei.org/vale-mozambiquea-deadly-ring-of-coal/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{valoi2022deadly, author = {Valoi, Estacio}, title = {{A Deadly Ring of Coal: VALEs poisoned gift to Mozambique}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://www.foei.org/vale-mozambiquea-deadly-ring-of-coal/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }