Home Blog Page 369

Zim faces hurdles before gold league return

Mining
-
0
Zim faces hurdles before gold league return

ZIMBABWE is still struggling to be readmitted to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), more than 13 years since it was booted out of the world’s largest gold and silver wholesale market.

The southern African nation was kicked out of LBMA in 2008 when its gold output slumped to 3 072kg tonnes, far below the 10 tonnes per annum required to guarantee membership.

However, the requirement was fulfilled in 2015 when production hit 21 tonnes.

Since then, the country’s gold output has been on an upward trajectory, with production hitting 19,05 tonnes in 2020 before increasing to 29,6 tonnes last year.

“Joining the LBMA is an advantage to Zimbabwe as the prices are better,” said Nobuhle T Chikuni of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association in her report titled: The need for responsible mining practices in Zimbabwe.

Following the improvement in gold production, Zimbabwe has been trying to be readmitted to the LBMA with no success.

Chikuni said gross human rights violations, land degradation and poor law enforcement in the mining sector, could be some of the reasons Zimbabwe’s admission has been delayed.

“Until Zimbabwean authorities remedy this, then it is unlikely that they will meet the criteria set by the LBMA for readmission according to the Bullion post. In addressing this, Zimbabwe should adopt the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines on responsible sourcing among other global transparency initiatives in the extractives sector,” she said.

Chikuni said the LBMA had adopted responsible sourcing.

LBMA established the responsible gold guidance refiners to combat systematic or widespread abuses of human rights, to avoid contributing to conflict, comply with high standards of anti-money-laundering and combating terrorist financing.

“Zimbabwe is working towards achieving a US$12 billion mining economy by 2023, it is important to ensure that the mining sector improves investor confidence by putting in place measures that ensure that mineral produced in Zimbabwe passes the due diligence test at the global level and people are willing to buy it and invest in the country’s mining sector.”

She said the time to start dealing with corruption and lack of accountability in the mining sector was now.

Chikuni said lack of proper and effective regulation in the mining sector was making it difficult to set up effective traceability systems and at the same time are creating opportunities for opportunists to cash in at the cost of Zimbabwean people.

“Zimbabwe needs to improve on the Policy Perception Index to ensure maximum benefits from the mining sector.

“All this starts with the adoption of the OECD guidelines and other responsible sourcing initiatives that are being adopted by mineral rich countries in Africa, if not now then when?”

Efforts to get a comment from the ministry of mines on the progress regarding the country’s readmission to the LBMA were fruitless, but ministry deputy minister Polite Kambamura told Mining Magazine recently that the government was making frantic efforts to be readmitted to the global market.

 

Newsday

ZEPHYR updates on Zimbabwe project development: PRESS RELEASE

TEPE
-
0
ZEPHYR updates on Zimbabwe project development: PRESS RELEASE

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA – Zephyr Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ZFR) (“Zephyr” or the “Company”) is pleased to update shareholders on the Company’s Zimbabwe project development activities. Over the past seven months, Zephyr senior management has field investigated 12 potential gold projects throughout Zimbabwe. Management has concentrated on projects with proven gold potential as demonstrated through active, shallow, small scale mining operations or previous exploration work, and based on the property size, the ability to host a target potential of at least one million ounces of gold. Based on these parameters, of the 12 properties evaluated, four high priority gold properties are being aggressively pursued for acquisition/joint venture. Upon success in this regard, a news release will be issued.

Loren Komperdo, President and CEO stated; “Our investigations to date confirm the merits of our strategy to pursue gold opportunities in Zimbabwe. We remain firm in our view that success in project generation in Zimbabwe will provide our shareholders with exposure to gold projects with company transformative potential.”

As stated in a press release on December 21, 2021, the Company staked and registered two Special Blocks totalling 201 hectares prospective for gold and base metals in the northeastern part of the Umkondo Basin of Zimbabwe. The Special Blocks cover an area encompassing a postulated two-kilometre long shear zone which is interpreted from satellite imagery to be the eastern extension of a gossanous gold-bearing eluvium zone recently mined by local artisanal miners as evidenced by numerous small pits.

Sutter has applications lodged with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (the “Ministry of Mines”) for two Exclusive Prospecting Orders (“EPO”), covering approximately 124,000 hectares of gold prospective ground, one of which for 61,000 hectares is located in the Nyanga area surrounding the Special Blocks. The second EPO application covers approximately 63,000 hectares in the Mount Darwin West area. These applications continue to be in the Ministry of Mines review process. A news release will be issued upon Zephyr receiving a decision from the Ministry of Mines on these two EPO applications. It is expected that news on the Mount Darwin West application will be received first as this application was the first one lodged and has progressed further along in the review process.

Dawson Mine Permitting Update

Zephyr has addressed all questions by the Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (“DRMS”) to the mine permit application lodged by Zephyr on June 30, 2021, in an adequacy response letter, dated 09 February 2022. We are currently waiting for a response from DRMS. The deadline for a decision date for DRMS to approve or deny the mining permit application has been extended to March 31, 2022.

About Zephyr Minerals Ltd.

Zephyr Minerals Ltd. has applied for a mining permit at its 100% owned high-grade Dawson-Green Mountain property in Colorado, USA. After expanding its land package to 1,385 hectares (3,574 acres) the Company now controls a 12.2-kilometre long DawsonGreen Mountain mineralized trend. In addition to the Dawson-Green Mountain property, the Company has acquired two Special Blocks in Zimbabwe and is assessing additional opportunities in Zimbabwe.

Prospect satisfied with Chishanya rare earth potential, eyes other projects

TEPE
-
0
Prospect satisfied with Chishanya rare earth potential, eyes other projects

LITHIUM mining and exploration junior Prospect Resources says the company does not plan to undertake further exploration activities at its Chishanya Carbonatite Project.

Anerudo Mapuranga

Last year the company announced that preliminary results undertaken from a soil sampling process focusing on rare earth elements (REEs) at Chishanya in the southeast of Zimbabwe are very encouraging.

According to Prospect, the REE knowledge gained at Chishanya will help the company in evaluating other early-stage projects in Zimbabwe.

“Following a rock chip sampling program to investigate the potential prospectivitiy of the Chishanya Carbonatite Project (Chishanya) for economic rare earth element concentrations, Prospect does not plan to undertake any further exploration activities on this project.

“The knowledge gained at Chishanya has assisted the team in understanding the regional geology and Prospect is evaluating other early-stage projects in Zimbabwe for their prospectivity for rare earth elements,” Prospect Resources said.

Zimbabwe is reportedly sitting on 17 REEs, namely cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, and yttrium.

REEs are now widely used in automobiles, electronic equipment, military technology and other fields.

Although Zimbabwe has not carried out a comprehensive mineral survey, President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2019 revealed that the country’s REEs are the second largest in the world after China’s.

Prospect said the Chishanya phosphate project is one of five known phosphate-bearing carbonatites in Zimbabwe.

The deposit has been explored by a number of companies since the 1950s including Anglo American and Rhodesia Chrome Mines Ltd.

The deposit is a series of un-exploited phosphate-bearing, apatite-magnetite lenses in carbonatite located near Birchenough Bridge, Manicaland. The project will be located at Dorowa near Buhera.

Zimplats honours long serving employees

TEPE
-
0
Zimplats honours long serving employees

Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum group of metals (PGM) producer Zimplats has paid tribute to long-serving employees for many years of loyalty to the company, Zimplats parent company Impala Platinum Holdings Limited  (Implats) has said.

Rudairo Mapuranga

According to Implats, Zimplats hosted an award ceremony appreciating and honouring employees who have said the mine for more than 10 years.

The company, according to Implats, awarded medals of honour to nearly 250 employees.

“Our Zimplats operation recently hosted a Long Service Awards ceremony for 317 employees who were recognised for their many years with the company, with close to 250 employees being honoured for more than 10 years’ service,” Implats said.

Zimplats which has been leading in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the country is also leading by example CSR by identifying and implementing social-economic development projects.

Last year Zimplats upgraded essential facilities at the Mubaira Hospital located in Chegutu District. Improvements include a new kitchen block, a new outpatients’ ablution block, an upgrade of the maternity ward and the installation of a borehole. In strengthening the hospital’s capacity, the number of patients assisted each year is expected to increase from 12 000 to 27 000 and child mortality is expected to decrease from the current 55 deaths per 1 000 live births to 20 deaths per 1 000 live births. The project partners included two companies from the Zimplats LED programme, responsible for manufacturing and supplying bricks and for construction work. Forty local jobs were created during the construction phase of the project.

Zimplats partnered with the Mhondoro Ngezi Rural District Council (MNRDC) to construct a COVID-19 isolation centre, with Zimplats donating the furniture and equipment valued at US$43 000.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zimplats has demonstrated its core values of respect, care and delivery by donating ventilators, oxygen concentrators, oxygen tanks, disinfectants, sanitisers and knapsack sprayers and surgical masks to 8 hospitals as part of efforts to empower medical institutions.

The company has been instrumental in the fight against Covid-19 in Zimbabwe to help President HE Emmerson Mnangagwa for the country to achieve herd immunity by year-end.

Zimplats Management has activated a vaccination programme for all employees (including contractors) and their dependents, placing the Group on a firm footing to fight the pandemic in the workplace in the future.

Mimosa keeps wildlife as part of its climate change adaptation

TEPE
-
0
Mimosa keeps wildlife as part of its climate change adaptation

Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed platinum group of metal (PGM) producer Impala Platinum Holdings Limited  (Implats) said its 50 per cent owned firm Mimosa Mining Company is committed to biodiversity conservation.

Anerudo Mapuranga

Implats said,  in line with its climate change strategy and policy that was adopted in January 2017, Mimosa will be keeping wildlife as part of its climate change adaptation plan for biodiversity.

According to Implats, the biodiversity conservation plan will significantly boost the mine’s environmental conservation efforts.

“Mimosa recently set aside approximately 10 hectares of land within its existing tailings storage facility (TSF) area to introduce wildlife, including 10 zebras, five wildebeest and two waterbucks. The TSF has a footprint of 114 hectares, within an area of approximately 120 hectares,” Implats said.

Biodiversity conservation is the practice of protecting and preserving the wealth and variety of species, habitats, ecosystems, and genetic diversity on the planet, which is important for our health, wealth, food, fuel, and services we depend on. It plays an integral role in supporting many sectors of development.

Biodiversity supports food security and sustained livelihoods through overall genetic diversity. Genes regulate all biological processes on the planet and increase the ability of organisms to cope with environmental stressors.

Mining activities threaten Zambezi Valley ecology

Mining
-
0
Mining activities threaten Zambezi Valley ecology

A LOCAL conservationist has said the Zambezi Valley ecology is under threat from hydrocarbon exploration and extraction of minerals.

Jaeninne Norris, a conservationist with Zambezi Valley Conservation Network, yesterday told NewsDay that small-scale mining and gold panning was a growing environmental and wildlife threat and was becoming a complex socio-economic issue.

“This practice, along with commercial mining is illegal in riverbeds and in the protected areas under the management of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), unless a permit is issued by the Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister with the consent of the Mines minister,” Norris said.

“It is a challenge to mitigate threats such as this which are driven by poverty as we cannot solve poverty, especially in remote communities. However, we believe that the first step is thorough research into the issue, to better understand the key factors and economic drivers, in order to develop appropriate, data-driven solutions that will benefit rural communities and mitigate the pressure on our natural resources.”

The Zambezi Valley Conservation Network is exploring innovative solutions for mining and believes there are opportunities for conservation entities to partner with development organisations which are experienced in developing, rolling out and scaling viable sustainable livelihood programmes.

While mining has been identified as a key sector for the attainment of National Development Strategy 1 goals, the impact of some mining operations has become a cause of concern.

The government promulgated Statutory Instrument 104 of 2021 Environmental Management (Control of Alluvial Mining) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 (No 2) which regulates mining operations across the country.

Zimbabwe is in the process of reviewing mining laws and policies to ensure communities benefit from their resources and to improve transparency in the
sector.

 

 

Newsday

Women in Mining still a vulnerable group

TEPE
-
0
Women in Mining still a vulnerable group

Due to centuries of marginalization, sidelining, and being taken as second-class citizens, women have been disadvantaged and are still a vulnerable group.

P.N Sunduzani

The world at large and Zimbabwe, in particular, should stop at nothing in promoting women and opening up more than equal opportunities, to protect them from vulnerability.

This is even more so in the mining industry, which to date still is a male-dominated field.

In recent years, several women have tried to break the barrier and venture into this industry for them to claim their rightful share of the national cake. However, this industry remains a hazard and a death trap to them and a lot needs to be done to protect them and encourage their participation in this important sector of the country’s economy.

Women experience gender-based violence, especially artisanal and small-scale miners. They suffer sexual harassment in all its worst forms. However, this has not deterred them or stopped them from trying to level the playing field, and proving that what men can do, women can do better.

Society plays a bigger role in demotivating young women into this sector usually by the patriarchal approach that demeans the mindset, physic and general capability of women.

Despite these challenges, women now constitute approximately fifty per cent of small-scale miners in Zimbabwe, of this 50% only 5% are young women, according to ZELA.

Miss Mines Zimbabwe founder and CEO Nomsa Mpofu, whose organization promotes women in mining, said women are at the risk of contracting HIV and Aids due to sexual abuse they encounter.

“Violence, abuse, HIV/AIDS/STIs, theft, lack of security, lack of full capacitation and support, lack of proper knowledge about mining, are some of the challenges they have to endure when they have to cater for their families,” she said.

She said policymakers, opinion leaders, and those in positions of authority should work tirelessly to assist women in mining.

This is because for women this is far beyond just making money but also, it’s a way of fighting the existential threat faced by women.

“As Miss Mines Zimbabwe we believe it is the mandate of Mining Companies and high protocol community leaders to assist Women in Mining with their Mining projects, taking their proposals to relevant offices for proper assistance, however, the attendance of Mining Conferences, Expos and Seminars would make a difference knowledge-wise and for networking purposes. Looking at long-term effects of fewer Women in Mining Empowerment, lm afraid their hardships lead to lack of family support and the most vulnerable would be the Girl Child,” said.

Zimbabwe’s Mines and Mining Development (MMMD) Minister seems to agree.

He said the Government was their corner, reiterating its pledge to ensure their participation and promote their activities.

He indicated that his ministry has put in place various arms that are meant to facilitate women’s participation and equip them.

“We have the Women in Mining Association, which is an affiliate member of the Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation. We deal with this Association to promote women in mining. The ministry has opened a special interest desk that has been set up to deal with and look after the affairs of youths and women. If you take the number of women who were mining at the onset of the second republic and today, there is a significant number, individually and in terms of mining syndicates so there has been a success in that regard,” he told the Mining Zimbabwe publication.

A lot more still needs to be done as women still face a lot of challenges as they manoeuvre in this male-dominated industry.

It is however worthwhile to note that Zimbabwe’s biggest mining body is led by a woman and the Chamber of mines once had a woman as President.

Rio Zim wins case against Kadoma residents

Mining
-
0
Rio Zim wins case against Kadoma residents

RIO Zim Ltd has won a High Court challenge against 30 residents of Eiffel Flats in Kadoma who wanted the mining company to be barred from carrying out blasting activities close to their houses.

The company lawyer, Tawanda Zhuwarara yesterday told High Court judge Justice Joseph Mafusire that instead of stopping the blasting activities, the residents could be relocated to a safer place since Rio Zim had a licence to mine in the area.

Residents were represented by human rights lawyers Tawanda Chinopfukutwa and Paidamoyo Saurombe.

Justice Mafusire dismissed the residents’ application on a technicality, saying they had not cited the Environmental Management Agency and Mines ministry as respondents.

“This application cannot succeed as the applicants rely on the undertaking by the respondent to relocate them since they have abandoned that issue.  The Mines ministry has also not been included as respondents,” Justice Mafusire ruled.

In their application, the residents sought an interdict compelling Rio Zim to relocate them to another area with structures of similar value.

 

Newsday

Gold price drops from 19-month high with risk sentiment improving

Mining
-
0
Gold price drops from 19-month high with risk sentiment improving

Gold fell from near a 19-month high on Wednesday as risk sentiment in the global markets improved, despite ongoing concerns surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Spot gold fell 2.5% to $1,997.78 per ounce by 12:20 p.m. ET, snapping a four-session rally that took the metal near a record high. US gold futures fell 2.2% to $1,998.80 per ounce in New York.

 

Treasuries and the dollar also fell on the improved risk appetite, while a retreat in oil prices helped riskier assets stage a comeback, with US stocks rebounding from a four-day selloff.

Despite the latest setback, bullion is still up 9% on the year as investors seek a hedge against the threat of an inflationary shock to the global economy.

Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded funds have reached the highest since March 2021, with inflows of about 152 tonnes this year, according to initial data compiled by Bloomberg.

The impact of the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia have reverberated across the globe, driving commodities higher on supply woes. The latest move by the US to ban Russian oil has stoked further fears of stagflation, where prices rise while economic growth stutters.

“The ban on Russian oil by the US is causing more inflation jitters,” Howie Lee, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., told Bloomberg.

“We all saw that coming, but still, it feels like a rollercoaster drop moment. With this ban, oil is easily expected to trade at new records. By that correlation, it is not difficult to see why gold may also be trading at a new record high soon,” Lee added.

Michael McCarthy, chief strategy officer at Tiger Brokers, Australia, told Reuters that while a pullback to near $1,930 is likely, the long-term outlook remains positive.

“But if the current instability in geopolitical terms continues, it’s very likely we will seek fresh all-time highs for precious metals,” McCarthy added.

Mining (With files from Bloomberg and Reuters)

Rising fuel costs burn Zim economy

Mining
-
0
Rising fuel costs burn Zim economy

Zimbabwe has effected a sharp increase in the price of fuel in response to global developments following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine amid fears the ripple effects would be felt in the already shaky economy, Business Times can report.

The  pump price of diesel rocketed  to US$1.68  a litre from US$1.51 a litre.

Petrol is now selling at US$1.67 a litre from US$1.51 a litre,  making all transport  of goods and people  expensive.

The increase yesterday comes barely a week after the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority hiked the price of fuel by 17% in local currency and about 5% in United States dollar on the back of a surge in international crude oil prices following tensions in Eastern Europe.

Multiple economists and captains of industry told Business Times that the development was not good for Zimbabwe’s already shaky economy.

The spike in prices will also result  in a corresponding hike in the prices of other goods as the cost of production  and transportation of goods surge.

“We have been grappling with various economic challenges that include power outages, forex challenges, exchange rate volatility and inflation  among a plethora of challenges and with the fuel price hikes, our frail economy  will be dealt a severe blow which will take time to recover,” Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Kurai Matsheza said.

Matsheza said the projected increased capacity utilisation would be severely affected.

Industrialist Sifelani Jabangwe  told Business Times that the fuel price hikes could trigger massive inflationary pressures.

“The increases in fuel prices will have an inflationary effect as the cost increases are passed on to consumers as product price increases and that won’t be good  for a fragile economy like ours,” Jabangwe said. University of Zimbabwe economics lecturer Moses Chundu said: “For an economy still reeling from the after effects of hyperinflation, our prices are sticky meaning even when fuel prices recede we will not experience a corresponding downward adjustment in consumer prices.”

Chundu said it would be advisable for the government to seek to absorb the effects of the rise in global oil prices through appropriate adjustments in taxes given that taxes are a significant portion of the fuel prices.

“Gas is used by the poor and the rapid rise in US$ gas price over the years is not helping with efforts to fight poverty,” he said.

Zimbabweans now fear that  the new hikes will have a huge impact on the  imported food, as prices are  pegged based on the  new fuel prices.

Prices of basic goods have more than quadrupled since last year, with a foreign-exchange shortage leading to scarcities of everything from fuel to food.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu said: “The Russia -Ukraine war is set to negatively impact the global economy with ripple effects spilling over to the global south as crude oil and gas prices surge. It has caused supply disruptions against rising demand,” Mutashu said.  “It should be borne in mind that Russia is a power house with the ability to retaliate sanctions to the detriment of supply of goods and services.”

He added: “Prices of basic and non-essential goods will jump as fuel and gas prices  shoot against declined supply. Air and sea cargo fees have risen sharply yet the war is only in its 14th  day. Therefore, consumers should brace for price escalations, not of our own making but direct and indirect war effects.”

A number of companies have been forced to cut or cease production as the economic crisis takes its toll.

“The country is in danger of bringing what’s left of our productive capacity to a halt unless there are  some very dramatic changes that begin to attract the interest of foreign investors,”  an economist, who preferred anonymity, said.

Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda said the fuel  price  hike was triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict which had triggered shortages.

“Russia is the second largest petroleum products  supplier in the world. Now that they are in a war with Ukraine they are unable to supply to various markets and that has caused constraints to the supply. When the supply is far lagging  behind the demand, the prices tend to go up and this is the situation we are faced with,” Soda told Business Times.

Asked whether the government has provided subsidies to cushion employees, Soda said: “The subsidies have already been applied at  US$0.04 across the products, otherwise the  diesel prices could have been US$1.72 not US$1.68 per litre and petrol at US$1.71 against the US$1.67 per litre.”

He said the rate at which free on board prices are increasing in “as much as we can try to put whatever subsidies we are not going to catch up with that increase”.

“It’s something that is beyond our control. In fact, we have tried to contain the prices but we are outstripped in terms of our interventions against the pace at which the prices are increasing,” Soda said.

Besides the  perennial problems that the country has, the transport crisis has been reborn in the country amid rising transport costs.

Takesure Chivasve, who takes a  commuter omnibus to work, complains that that option has now become unaffordable.

“Where I used to pay ZWL$100 cash, I now pay ZWL$150 to go to Newlands where I work. Also, many commuter omnibuses are not working because of the fuel shortage. Paying higher fares is now very difficult especially at a time  when our salaries remain stagnant,” Chivasve  said.

Some workers are now being forced  to walk to  and from work as the transport crisis hits.

Recently, the economy has witnessed a sharp  increase in the price of cooking oil. United Refineries Limited CEO Busisa Moyo said the sharp increase in cooking oil prices was largely influenced by the increase in international crude oil prices which also pushed up bio fuel prices.

“The crude oil prices have gone from US$1750 per MT to US$2090 MT. Soya bean oil is a substitute for fuels and once fuel prices go up they push up bio fuel prices also and producers of crude oil in South America switch and sell into the biofuels market and starve food sectors. We have also had droughts in some major producing countries. In addition the Ukraine-Russia war has added uncertainty and markets are jittery,” Moyo said.

1...368369370...691Page 369 of 691