Maputo, Dec. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique's government approved on Tuesday the gradual lifting of the suspension of mining activity in Manica, in the centre of the country, noting that investigations are still ongoing to determine the extent of the miners' involvement in environmental pollution.
"The lifting of the suspension aims to allow mining activity to continue by mining rights holders who are not engaged in gold mining, in accordance with legal and environmental obligations in the national public and economic interest," cabinet spokesperson Inocêncio Impissa said after another meeting of the body in Maputo.
Although the government has approved a decree lifting the suspension, the spokesman said that work is continuing to "clarify the degree of involvement" of each mining operator in the pollution, followed by the judicial process to hold those involved accountable.
"The administrative part is doing its job and will then move on to the subsequent parts (...). Depending on the degree of participation of each one, we have a phase of submission, with specific situations, to the public prosecutor's office, which is the judicial part," Impissa stressed.
At first glance, he said, it appears that what is being paid by the operators, in taxes and other benefits, falls short of what is produced, which requires a reorganisation, "including the possibility of setting up refineries and purchasing stations under state control".
"Manica will be a point where we will introduce a mineral resource management model so that, if the model works, it can be expanded to other parts of the country. We want to have greater control, but above all, greater benefit from what is extracted from the subsoil of the national territory," he said.
Mozambique's President, Daniel Chapo, said on 17 September that mining was causing an "environmental disaster" in the region and ordered the total suspension of mining activities.
The suspension of mining licences in Manica followed the government's review of the operational command report of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) that worked in that province between 17 and 19 July to assess the environmental situation in relation to mining.
The commission found "uncontrolled mining" by licensed operators, including companies operating without environmental recovery plans or waste containment systems, as well as violations of workers' rights.
The government then classified the environmental situation in Manica as critical, pointing to the "severe pollution" of rivers that have "reddish, cloudy and opaque water" as a result of direct ore washing and the dumping of waste from this activity without any treatment.
In view of this scenario, the government has set up an interministerial commission comprising the Ministries of Defence, Mineral Resources and Energy, the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Finance, Economy, Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, Health, Justice and Labour, and Gender and Social Action.
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