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Prosper Ndlovu and Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is in Victoria Falls today where he will officially open the 2022 Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe Annual General Meeting and Conference this morning.

This year’s crunch mining indaba is being held under the theme: “Consolidating growth drivers for the mining industry” and comes amid renewed optimism by industry players that the sector is on a rebound, having witnessed reopening of several mines and establishment of new mines in different parts of the country.

The mining industry is one of the major economic mainstays to anchor the country towards an upper-middle-income economy by 2030 and Zimbabwe is targeting to grow export revenue from minerals to US$12 billion by 2023.

The US$12 billion mining industry represents a 344 percent increase from the US$2,7 billion registered in 2017, industry experts say. The multi-billion-dollar mining industry growth is set to be driven by gold, platinum, diamond, chrome, iron ore, coal, lithium, and other minerals.

Among the key deliverables, the mining industry roadmap entails enhanced exploration, increased exports, enhanced investment and capacity building, increased productivity and employment creation as well as value addition.

The President and his delegation landed at the Victoria Falls International Airport at around 5.40pm and was received by Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Richard Moyo, Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando and his deputy Polite Kambamura, Zanu-PF national commissar and former Cabinet Minister, Dr Mike Bimha, senior Government officials and service chiefs.

In an interview after welcoming the President at the airport, Minister Chitando said this year’s focus was on gold.

“Preparations for the official opening are well on course. We started today with a gold symposium, which was examining the gold sector in terms of the challenges and how we can enhance productivity,” said Minister Chitando.

He said since the focus is on gold, the meeting reviewed the challenges and issues surrounding the mineral and the pertinent points will be included in the brief to the President.

“Things are very interesting at the AGM as we move towards the US$12 billion mining industry next year,” said Minister Chitando.

The mining conference, which began yesterday and ends tomorrow, is the flagship event of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe and is used as a platform for marketing, branding and engaging with stakeholders in the mining industry.

Today’s session will also see ministers and key Government agency executives making presentations. The chief executive officer of the Botswana Chamber of Mines, Mr Vusi Mabena, will also share his insights.

Yesterday the executive secretary for the Tanzania Chamber of Mines, Mr Benjanim Mchwampaka also made his virtual presentation during the gold symposium in which he shared his country’s experiences in growing the gold sector in particular.

Earlier, Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr Isaac Kwesu, said the conference is being held at a time when the outlook for the mining industry is positive, buoyed by an encouraging commodity price upturn that has seen mineral prices surpassing their long-term averages.

“The 2022 Mining Conference comes at a time when there have been significant positive developments in the industry that has seen the commissioning of the mines in key sub sectors including gold, coal and lithium,” he said.

Mr Kwesu said the industry is on a recovery path, rebounding by 3,4 percent in 2021 from a Covid-19 induced contraction of nine percent in 2020.

“The outlook for the mining industry is positive, buoyed by encouraging commodity price upturn that has seen mineral prices surpassing their long-term averages,” he said.

Mr Kwesu said most key minerals recorded growth, with gold registering 86 percent, lithium (83 percent), diamond (51 percent) coal (21 percent), platinum at 13 percent, and nickel at 13 percent.

He said the theme of the conference recognises the current growth and inherent potential of the mining sector as well as the opportunity that entails the whole economy to align with the Government’s target vision of 2030.