…..a sad reality in the mining industry.
Retrospecting as a case study of the mining industry in Zimbabwe. What really transpired?
Dickson Rudairo Mapuranga
What happened to African Associated Mines of Gaths, Mashaba and Shabani, is a question that I am not going to react to, what are the solutions to the revival of these mines, who has the capacity of restoring these forgotten giants back to life in the mining industry?
The third highest producer of asbestos in the world disappeared into the abysses of nameless creatures in an unpredictable turnout. AA mines were bringing in at their full capacity foreign currency that was able to sustain the economy of Zimbabwe and backing the Zimbabwean dollar as one of the strongest currencies on earth. The fall of these giants was followed by a rapid fall of the economy and the Zim dollar.
AA mines owned Turnal and Fibre cement and 14 other industrial companies, its fall saw the collapse of many sectors in the economy and social setups. Sports was at its greatest level supported and sponsored by AA mines throughout Zimbabwe. Gaths mine stadium used to be one of the biggest stadiums in Zimbabwe but at this interval, we may conclude it is now antiquity.
AA mines produced white fibre asbestos which is less dangerous than the blue one produced in South Africa and Russia which gave them an advantage in the world market. They were producing sewer pipes, and rooftops among other asbestos apparatus. Infrastructure development depended mostly on asbestos from these mining giants, their revival means the country is heading to a very comfortable and prosperous voyage.
It is a miserable actuality that the revival of these mines needs hundreds of millions of dollars, according to one mining expert, it would be a very noble idea to see AA mines reoperation at its full capacity, and the country will be optimistic that good things will present themselves in the near future.
Many theories would be drawn to a conclusion on what happened to the leading giants of Zimbabwe’s producers of asbestos but these concepts will never recuperate the operation and rebuilding of AA mines. What needs to be done is giving an in-depth response to the situation and coming up with an unbiased solution.
