The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo , Senior Business Reporter
THE Government is working on ensuring the country fully benefits from its various mineral resources through expediting a number of beneficiation and value addition initiatives.
Officially opening the 23rd edition of Mine Entra Mines held at the ZITF last week, Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando said the Government has lined-up a number of projects aimed at adding value to certain minerals instead of exporting them in their raw state.
He said value addition of lithium obtained at Bikita Minerals and four other projects for the production of lithium ion batteries was at advanced stage.
“The whole idea is to ensure that there is now value addition so that Bikita no longer sends the product as concentrates thus we upgrade to lithium carbonate. There has been a pilot plant that has been running in Kwekwe built 100 percent by Zimbabweans, it has been running since May and it has managed to consistently produce lithium concentrate to lithium carbonate at 99.5 (percent) purity. The guys running it were actually telling me they were aiming for 99,9 (percent) purity.
What this means is there is no longer need for us to sell lithium carbonate, we upgrade that lithium carbonate and directly feed into the manufacture of batteries,” said Minister Chitando.
He said platinum players came with a concept paper aimed at ensuring value addition of the mining in-line with Government’s position of ensuring the country fully benefits from its mineral resources.
“As far as value addition is concerned I am pleased to say platinum players have now come up with a concept paper and a road map to achieve beneficiation, firstly being the base metal refining and then precious metal refinery,” said Minister Chitando.
He said further to that, the Government was in talks with a foreign firm to set up a plant for the manufacturing of catalytic converters.
“A significant percentage of the platinum produced in South Africa is value added around East London into production of catalytic converters and we have already opened discussions with the company (doing the value addition) and they are ready to come and set up shop and be given Special Economic Zone status on the Dyke to start planning for the production of a limited quantity of catalytic converters once these refineries are up and running,” said Minister Chitando.
He also expressed satisfaction on the developments taking place in the platinum sector.
“We do have at least three active platinum producers and what is most pleasing is that each one of them is carrying out capital expenditure exercise, it may be expansion, it may be smelting capacity but they are all doing something. Furthermore, we do have Karo Resources’ platinum project, which again is on the ground and the mobilisation is taking place. Great Dyke Investments, whose progress has been slow but when it kicks off its going to kickoff big time and that will happen by the end of this year,” said Minister Chitando.
He said one of the world’s largest stainless steel producers, Chinese firm Tsingshan, was going to set up a plant for the manufacturing of the product in the country.
The company has already started conducting a feasibility study in preparation of setting-up a plant after the Government awarded it a special grant to iron ore mining rights in an area around Chivhu in Mashonaland East.
“In June Government signed an agreement with Tsingshan, the largest producer of stainless steel in the world. The whole idea is that they are undertaking a feasibility study to produce stainless steel here in Zimbabwe,” said Minister Chitando.
The development would require significant increase in key feed stock minerals namely iron ore, ferro chrome, nickel and coal.
“So the agreement we signed in June is a framework agreement for Government to facilitate Tsingshan to have these resources (iron ore, ferrochrome, nickel and coal) and establish a stainless steel plant and that stainless steel plant will do revenues of over $2 billion per annum,” said Minister Chitando.
He said the setting up of the stainless steel plant would enable the country to limit exportation of ferro chrome and nickel in its raw state. He said a gemologist centre would also be established in Mutare specifically to add value to diamonds.
“Coming to diamonds we are looking at the growth in the mining, beneficiation and also looking at the downstream industries, it’s a $400 million investment programme, which has been outlined and then that will also spillover to the gemologist centre, which is going to be established specifically for value addition of diamonds and that’s going to be established in Mutare, more details will be outlined much later when we announce the diamond policy, which will be announced by mid of next month,” said Minister Chitando.
He said the country was poised to produce 10 million carats of diamonds by 2022. Last year the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company reported that 1.8 million carats were produced while three million carats are projected this year.
@DNsingo
