The Sunday Mail
Enacy Mapakame
Government will soon process and issue out claims for chrome smelters to enhance their production in order to boost their exports as well as contribution to the envisaged US$12 billion mining sector, a senior official has said.
This comes as chrome smelters made a passionate plea to Government for the issuance of claims that will enable them to have adequate feed for their plants, which are currently not realising full potential due to insufficient raw material.
Zimbabwe’s mining sector is projected to grow to a US$12 billion sector by year 2023, and of that figure, the chrome sector is expected to contribute at least US$1 billion.
Currently, chrome smelters are not realising their full capacity on limited supplies of chrome ore for processing.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura told The Sunday Mail Business that this was also in support of President Mnangagwa’s vision that should see Zimbabwe achieve an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
“We have heard the concerns of chrome smelters and one of the biggest challenge is they do not have enough chrome ore to feed their plants.
“As such, we will work swiftly to ensure they get claims so they can increase production. That is one way we can achieve a US$12 billion sector, and chrome should account for US$1 billion of that.
“This is something we have to look at with haste and ensure they get claims,” he said in an interview after touring smelting plants at Afrochine in Ngezi and Jin An in Gweru on Thursday.
The deputy minister concurred with the smelters that it was unsustainable to rely on ore from small-scale miners. The purpose of the tour was to have an appreciation of the sector, the challenges being faced by the sector as well as check on progress smelters are making in production as they move towards enhancing export earnings.
“What we have observed is that they (smelters) are on track and we can achieve our US$12 billion industry in 2023. What we need to do now as the ministry is to find some claims for them because currently, they are buying feed from small-scale miners, especially Jin An which is buying low-grade ores from Zimsaco.
“Smelters should mine their own ore, that’s more sustainable and the issue of claims should be addressed urgently, this is one of the sectors that bring in a lot of foreign currency and we should support them in every way possible,” he said.
Both Africhine and Jin An that are the top chrome smelters in the country indicated that they had already submitted applications for claims with the ministry.
Afrochine managing director Benson Xu said their furnaces were not operating at full capacity due to a number of challenges, among them erratic power supplies as well as shortage of feed for processing.
“We rely on buying ore from small scale miners. We could improve on our production if we had our own claims. As Afrochine, we have capacity to push production and do more if resources permit and contribute significantly towards the industry and the economy.
“There are claims that are underutilised, if we get claims we can do underground shafts and increase output, we do not export raw chrome, but beneficiate it in line with what Government has been pushing for, which will increase export earnings too,” he said.
Afrochine started in November 2013 and recently completed two other furnaces to bring them to five and produces 50 000 tonnes per year.
Now, the country’s biggest chrome smelter, Afrochine has also bemoaned erratic power supplies that in July the firm functioned on a single furnace. Afrochine is a subsidiary of Tsingshan which produces 25 percent of global stainless steel.
