Mozambique: 14 Mining Companies Fined For Not Following Tax Law

By Jorge Joaquim

14 of the 18 companies mining coal, graphite and heavy sands were fined by the general inspectorate of mines for failing last month to declare the quality of the ores they produced, the inspector-general of mines at the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (Mireme), Obete Matine.

Matine said that mining companies who were making declarations for taxation purposes needed to provide a document specifying the quality of ore, as required by a decree that came into force recently.

The state had lost vast amounts of tax due to companies not doing this reporting, he added.

Matine told Lusa news agency he can't say how much in fines the companies had paid.

Earlier this month, the government also accused mining companies of under-reporting their production volumes and evading tax as a result.