The government of Mozambique has announced it is currently preparing the necessary prerequisites for the international tenders it intends to make on the new oil and natural gas blocks in the Rovuma Basin in the far northern portion of the country.

Esperanca Bias, Minister of Mineral Resources of Mozambique, made the announcement last week in Britain where she accompanied Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on an official visit.

"We are working to allocate new licences for coal, and in the areas with a lot of pressure, public tenders will be held," Ms Bias said. "As for hydrocarbons, some more blocks will be opened. We shall launch public tenders to lease them out."

She also told British media the government is likewise checking on the western province of Tete for any leftover areas of which possible licences for coal exploration could be issued.

"There is a great deal of interest in obtaining licences," Ms Bias said. "In coal, we are verifying whether there are any areas available in Tete."

Apart from Tete, reports said large reserves of coal in the northern province of Niassa were also present. In 2011, the Mozambican government granted seven companies licenses to explore coal in Niassa.

Meanwhile, a new coal discovery has been unearthed in Zambia.

African Energy Resources, according to Proactive Investors, has intersected multiple coal seams at its Sinazongwe prospect which is close to existing coal mines.

The raw coal calorific values showed a range from 10 to 26 megajoules per kilogramme.

Highlighting the potential for coking coal properties, there was an extensive presence of vitrinite bands. In mid-2011, reconnaissance exploration identified coal bearing sediments with a strike length of about 10 kilometres.