by Golden Sibanda
GOVERNMENT will do everything possible to ensure that mining companies set up refinery facilities in the country to beneficiate and value add minerals, Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa has said.
To that end, Government now requires proposals for new projects to include plans for value addition and beneficiation, Minister Chidhakwa said during the first day of the two-day annual mining and infrastructure indaba that ends today.
“I want to assure foreign and local investors that it is a matter of great importance for us and we will continue to work hard to ensure that this happens,” he said.
Several commodity miners with huge balance sheets extract minerals and these include SA’s Impala Platinum subsidiary (Zimplats), Implats and Aquarius joint venture (Mimosa) and Anglo American unit Unki Mine.
Minister Chidhakwa said the need to beneficiate and value add local minerals was driven by demands for maximum benefits by communities, where mining is undertaken and realisation that beneficiation and value addition was the only route to industrialisation of nations.
“I do not want to say to our visitors you can come to Zimbabwe and we can give you a claim, you can go and mine, take the iron ore to your country at will and nobody will ask you questions. I will be lying to you dear colleagues, because the communities will say we want you to do something for us,” the minister said.
However, substantial investment will need to go into the establishment of key enablers such as electricity, water, rail and road infrastructure to optimise benefits from mining.
Already, mining has been designated as the anchor for Zimbabwe’s medium term growth prospects while value addition and beneficiation are part of the four main clusters in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).
Mining in Zimbabwe constitutes 16 percent of gross domestic product, 45 percent of foreign exchange earnings and directly employees 45 000 people, but faces growth constraints due to foreign and domestic factors, including falling prices and lack of affordable capital.
Minister Chidhakwa said the Government aspired to a situation where the country would one day be a producer of value added products such as catalytic converters for automobile vehicles and medical instruments.
He pointed out that for years Zimbabwe and Africa in general have produced and exported minerals in raw form, helping develop domains of the former colonial masters, but said it was time to bring this practice to an end.
“I think if can be frank with each other it will be good because then, you understand what is happening in the communities, so that as you do your business model for planning your investments, you take these items into consideration. Most welcome are investors who have plans, gradually, to value add minerals,” he said.
Minister Chidhakwa added that Government preferred investors who are keen to invest in infrastructure, not only for their benefit, but also communities around.
He added that Government preferred investors willing to either impart their knowledge to locals or in other instances make available equipment to small scale miners.
The mines minister said it was not healthy to be a billionaire “sitting in the middle of extremely poor people.”
Zimbabwe is host to more than 40 mineral occurrences, including gold, diamond, chrome, nickel and coal. It has the world’s second largest deposits of platinum.
“I want investors to have a fair deal, but I want to make it clear that the other constituency (where minerals are extracted) must also have a fair deal,” he said.
As such, he said that Government has held several meetings with mining experts, especially with respect to beneficiation and value addition of platinum, to learn how the country could establish platinum refineries.
The drive by Government has resulted in Zimplats making a commitment to rehabilitate and expand its Selous base metal refinery, as part of initial efforts by industry to set up beneficiation facilities in the country.
Collectively, industry is looking at the possibility of jointly working together to assist multi-commodity miner RioZim to expand its empress nickel base metal refiner.
Further, Bindura Nickel Corporation has also indicated that its refinery could be rehabilitated and modified to process platinum group metals at significantly lower cost than investing and Greenfield beneficiation facilities.
Secretary for Mines and Mining Development Professor Francis Gudyanga said the need to optimize benefits from minerals to ensure that communities benefit from their mining was the reason Government would in future effect a total ban on raw metal exports. Herald
COMMENTS
Nothing great will ever happen in the mining industry.The thrust of govt policy is all about handouts to the communities in which these investor companies are supposed to operate with little or any profit to the investor. Who dear minister is prepared to operate under such malignant policies.In Smiths rule the govt provided all these amenities using TAX MONEY but under Zany the tax dollas is converted into perks for political patronage.One just needs to look at the Essar deal to understand what investing in Zims is all about or how about the ACR Marange Diamond nationalisation,not for the benefit of the communities but for a few politicos,Obert included
And on the 34th year, Mugabe ordered the economy to perform, and it did not!
TRYING TO COVER THE SUN WITH A FINGER OR SHOULD I SAY A HAND.DOESNT MATTER WE ARE ALL GOING ONE WAY.
where are you going to get the electricity for all this …. dumber and dumber…..