Mozambi Coal (ASX: MOZ) has appointed the experienced Ryan Broom as chief financial officer and joint company secretary.
Broom brings to the company African experience, after previously holding senior finance roles at Africa-focussed explorers Tusker Gold and Indago Resources (ASX: IDG).
Chala Kondragunta has also been appointed as exploration manager based in Mozambique, and has experience in the coal exploration within the country.
Kondragunta joins from Essar Steel, where he served as deputy general manager in charge of their coal exploration programs in Mozambique and Indonesia.
Mozambique exploration kicks off
Earlier in the week Mozambi kicked off exploration in the Zambeze basin, one of the world’s largest undeveloped coal basins.
Highlighting the potential for the basin, 17 billion tonnes of coal has already been identified.
Riversdale Mining (ASX: RIV) has identified 13 billion tonnes of coal, with the company's projects including Zambeze (9 billion tonnes of coal), with an agreement in place for Wuhan Iron & Steel to acquire 40% of project for US$800 million.
At Benga, 4 billion tonnes have been identified with a mining contract granted by Mozambique government for a 20 million tonnes a year operation.
Vale (NYSE: VALE) owns the Moatize Project with a resource of 1.4 billion tonnes, and is set to commence production this year at a rate of 11 million tonnes per year of coking and thermal coal.