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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
MATABELELAND North-based coal producer, Zambezi Gas, has secured a mining licence that will run for the next 25 years, chief executive officer, Mr Thomas Nherera, said yesterday.

The firm plans to increase its coal output from 60 000 tonnes a month to 150 000 tonnes.

The colliery started coal mining in 2014 producing about 20 000 tonnes per month.

“We have been granted a full mining licence that runs for the next 25 years as opposed to  the  short-term licence we have been using. We are now looking forward to increasing our production from 60 000 tonnes per month to 150 000 tonnes,” he said.

The mine which has 60 workers, produces coal for both local and export markets.

“We produce coal for the local market and also export to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Mr Nherera.

Zambezi Gas was granted special gas and coal concessions by the Government in 2003 and 2007 respectively.

The special gas licence allows them to explore for coal-bed methane gas in Matabeleland North.

“For the special gas licence, we have scaled down the exploration for coal bed methane gas as extraction of the gas requires a lot of resources,” said Mr Nherera.

Zambezi Gas’ concession at Ethuba covers 19 000 hectares with more than 200 million tonnes of coal reserves.

At present, the coal producer is focused on open-cast activities while underground operations would be embarked on at a later stage.

@okazunga