The Sunday Mail
Tawanda Musarurwa
China Yantai JinAo Mining Group Co Ltd says it is willing to invest $300 million in mining projects across the country, with a particular focus on processing refractory ores.
The company intends to revive the mothballed Kwekwe roasting plant.
Said Yantai JinAo Zimbabwe manager, Mr Musorowegomo Mukosi: “JinAo has an interest in processing the roasting plant dumps in Kwekwe, and other refractory ores.
In that regards, JinAo has collected samples from the Kwekwe roasting plant for testing, and ascertained what is contained in the dump, in terms of impurities.
“We have the capacity to establish a processing plant to efficiently, sustainably and profitably recover gold from the dump.”
Since the closure of the Kwekwe roasting plant in 2000, several Zimbabwean mines that had refractory ores ceased operations.
Mr Mukosi said revival of the Kwekwe roasting plant can spur the resuscitation of several closed gold mines.
“Setting up a facility locally will provide a nearby facility for processing refractory gold concentrates, thus spurring the re-opening of many closed mines.
‘‘Our coming into the Zimbabwe mining space will provide environmentally-friendly technology for processing refractory gold flotation concentrates.
“The concentrates will be generated from mines mainly in the Midlands, Matabeleland North and other areas in Zimbabwe or the Sadc region that may have such ores.
“Zimbabwe has huge gold resources locked deep in refractory ores. These ores contain huge amounts of sulphur, arsenic, antimony and other deleterious elements difficult to separate using the conventional gold processing technology,” he said.
“JinAo plans to invest $300 million in Zimbabwe for the initial nationwide phases, comprising of $200 million in fixed assets and $100 million in working capital. The specific amounts will be determined after JinAo’s initial field visit and in-depth interactions with relevant units in Zimbabwe.”
The group said it has demonstrated its technologies to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, the Environmental Management Agency and Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
The mining group was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Yantai City, Shandong Province in eastern China.
The company has a registered capital of RMB100 million yuan, a total investment amount of RMB700 million yuan, of which the investment in fixed assets stands at RMB250 million yuan, with an annual output of 6,5 tonnes of gold.
It is one of the several companies that met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the sidelines of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2018, expressing interest to invest in Zimbabwe.
The miner has projected that from the Kwekwe roasting plant dump, there can be recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and other metals, according to a sample collected on site.
In recent years, Zimbabwe and China have strengthened their bilateral ties through vehicles such as the Belt and Road Initiative.
