§ Mr. Marquandasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will make a statement about the projected development of the mining and export of iron ore in Swaziland.
§ Mr. H. FraserI have been asked to reply.
The iron ore deposit at Bomvu Ridge, the rights to which are held by the Swaziland Iron Ore Development Company, is estimated to contain 40 million tons of ore with a grade of approximately 60–62 per cent. Fe. The construction of a railway line from the Mine to link up with the Portuguese East Africa system at Goba and thus enable the export of the ore through Lourenco Marques is under active consideration.