MINING OPERATION SET TO KICK-OFF IN ZIMBABWE AFTER US$50M FUND WAS SECURED

Kuvimba Mining House, intends to mobilise at least US$50 million to start mining operations at its Great Dyke Investments platinum project in Darwendale, Mashonaland West Province in the next six months.

GDI’s platinum project requires an estimated US$500 million to reach optimal production in the long term.

KMH, majority owned by the Government of Zimbabwe, which holds 65 percent stake in the company, has also acquired ferrochrome producer Zimbabwe Alloys (ZimAlloys), mines Jena, Sandawana, Globe and Phoenix, and Elvington as well as Victoria Falls Stock Exchange-listed Bindura Nickel Corporation.

The thrust entails the turnaround and development of the mines and industries it has acquired, which are considered of national importance.

This is in line with the Second Republic’s national development agenda premised on boosting production in all economic sectors, including mining, to ensure the country attains upper middle-income economy by 2030.

Under the US$12 billion mining strategy by this year, the Government launched in 2023, platinum is expected to contribute US$3 billion to the export target while the major foreign currency earner-gold, will contribute US$4 billion.

“At the moment, Kuvimba is in the process of mobilising the necessary funding for us to actually start mining at Darwendale which is the GDI project.

“Just to start mining alone, it’s something that could take us well in excess of US$50 million but to put a processing plant and all those things over a period of time, you will be looking at over US$500 million in the long-term.

“Our plan at the moment is that within six months from now we should have started mining,” he said.

As of last year because of the changes in strategy and changes in the geopolitical environment, we took over the percentage (50 percent equity) that they had in GDI.

“We also initially had a view of the type of mining we wanted to do which we have changed and we are now looking at moving away from an underground approach to open pit approach.

“We have now seen that the ore body that we discovered is more susceptible to that (open-pit approach), than the type of mining that we initially thought we wanted to do,” Mr Chinyemba said

SOURCE: The Herald