Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi is encouraging Anhui Foreign Economic Construction (Group) Co. Ltd. of China and the local government and people of the Chibuto district of the southern Mozambican province of Gaza to work together on a mineral extraction project there, AIM reports.

The Mozambican news agency quotes Mr Nyusi as saying during a visit to the project site: “It is necessary to take care of the communities and the workers, and the government is ready to give support in all that may be necessary.”

The report says the 10,544-hectare site is thought to contain 108 million tonnes of ilmenite, a source of titanium dioxide, which is used to produce white pigments for paper, paint, plastics and other products.

The US$1 billion project includes the construction of a water treatment plant, a hotel, a supermarket, a power station and a 70km railway, AIM says.