The Sunday News
AT least 60 percent of available space has been reserved so far for the 20th edition of the country’s largest mining engineering and transport exhibition, Mine Entra, compared with 39 percent this time last year with revelations that participation would include companies from South Africa and China.
ZITF Company general manager Mrs Nomathemba Ndlovu said preparations for this year’s edition of the exhibition, to be held under the theme ‘‘Unearthing Opportunities’’, were progressing well.
ZITF Company is the organiser of the annual event which will be held in Bulawayo from 22-24 July.
“The 20th Mine Entra will be marked by looking back on how far the Zimbabwean mining sector has come since then and how well equipped it is to take growth and success to the next level.
In line with this, the theme is a rallying statement challenging the inter-dependent sectors to uncover and take advantage of the potential, opportunities and growth prospects in the region’s mining industry and its related sectors,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
She said this year marked a significant milestone in the history of the event as it celebrates its 20th anniversary as the inaugural Mine Entra was held in 1996 against a background of a flourishing mining industry contributing about 43 percent of the country’s total foreign earnings.
She said the ZITF Company was expecting to see more infrastructural development occurring in the mining communities as more community share ownership scheme initiatives come into being under the economic empowerment regulations.
“The presence of infrastructure equipment and expertise suppliers at this year and in future shows will be more pronounced. Supplementary to the platform offered by the exhibition, Mine Entra also encompasses additional networking platforms in the form of industry-driven conferences,” she said.
Speaking on the history of the exhibition, Mrs Ndlovu said its mandate was to offer an ideal regional forum for mining, engineering and transportation companies to spotlight their latest products, technology and cost-efficiency developments to a fast-growing industry.
Over the years, the Mine Entra exhibitor profile has expanded to include more sectors such as building and construction which was introduced in the 2013 edition, having seen that building and construction equipment exhibits were a prominent feature of the past few editions.
In 2010 the Joint Producers and Suppliers Conference was added to the diary of events with the aim to provide a discussion forum to the mines as well as downstream and upstream industries in the mining value chain on current opportunities and constraints.
Last year also saw the introduction of a Small-scale and Artisanal Miners Conference, which according to ZITF company will this year be grown to make it an effective platform for small scale and artisanal miners.
“We want to use the Mine Entra platform to deliberate on the Zimbabwean mining sector’s progress with regards the topical issues of value addition and beneficiation, what the challenges and recommendations are,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
