Zimpapers Logo

Chromite

Lovemore Zigara and Munyaradzi Musiiwa
MORE than 300 people will be employed at a chrome smelting plant in Zvishavane when Government commissions it in February next year as part of the value addition and beneficiation thrust, a senior official has said.

The smelter in Mapanzure will create at least 300 jobs directly while 3 000 others will be created in related downstream industries.

Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Engineer Fred Moyo said the Mapanzure smelting plant was one of the four the Government was setting up along the Great Dyke as part of the value addition and beneficiation drive.

Eng Moyo said at the present moment it was difficult to beneficiate chrome due to prohibitive transport costs from mining areas.

“We decided to directly invest in Zvishavane and then allow the exploitation of chrome in Mberengwa, Zvishavane and Chivi. This is what culminated in the smelter that we have put up in the Mapanzure area. It is set for commissioning next February and will use around 6 000 tonnes of chrome ore per month but we want that to go up four times, which means we will be requiring 30 000 tonnes per month.

“Over 300 jobs will be created at the plant while a further 3 000 jobs will be created in downstream industries,” he said.

Eng Moyo could not disclose the sum of money invested in setting up the plant but said there were three other sites along the Great Dyke.

“We have been failing to benefit from chrome fully because our smelters are located in the middle of the country that is Kwekwe and Gweru. When you want to move chrome ore from Mberengwa to Gweru or Kwekwe it is difficult to get there because of prohibitive transport costs,” said Eng Moyo.

In the next six weeks, he said, Government would bring a washing plant to Zvishavane. The washing plant will be able to receive the chrome ore for washing before it is fed into the plant. Shortages of smelters in the country have been hindering production and growth in the chrome mining sector.

The developments comes as the chrome sector has been on a growth trajectory, which has seen the 400 000 tonne production target being surpassed.

Meanwhile, Shurugwi based Unki Mine’s platinum smelter is now at 40 percent of construction. Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which wholly owns the mine, has budgeted more than $62 million for a local smelter, as miners in the sector brace for Government’s ban on unprocessed mineral exports.

Local policymakers believe the country is not getting the maximum possible value from its minerals as commodities are being exported in raw form. In 2014, Government gave the country’s three biggest platinum producers — Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki — a January 2018 deadline to submit proposals to build a precious metals refinery.

Unki Mine general manager, Mr Walter Nemasase, said the company had taken heed of the Government’s call for value addition and beneficiation.

“We are now at 40 percent of construction. We started constructing the plant last year and we are hoping to complete the construction as soon as possible,” he said.