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Miners should be innovative amidst power shortages

TEPE
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Miners should be innovative amidst power shortages

Parliamentary Portfolio on Mines and Mining Development Chairperson Hon Edmond Mkaratigwa said miners should rethink strategies to counter electricity challenges as Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) gruelling power cuts worsen.

Rudairo Mapuranga

Miners have been lamenting over electricity challenges lamenting that the problem has ripple effects on mineral production targets. The government through the National Development Strategy_1 (NDS_1) is expecting the mining sector to fetch an annual revenue of US$12 Billion by 2023.

According to Mkaratigwa to ensure that the mining sector gets adequate power there is a need for the government and mining companies to be innovative around both the national grid and market or individual firm driven initiatives that can be off-grid.

“It is quite difficult to do away with the problem of electrical power energy completely. There are about three categories of miners and these are the large, medium and small-scale miners. These have different energy requirements and capacities to supplement their energy in times of bad energy supply times. This challenge has been there for a long time now. Nevertheless, to ensure that all mines and their levels get electrical power requires innovation around both the national grid and market or individual firm driven initiatives which can be off-grid,” Hon Mkaratigwa said.

Mkaratigwa said it was of importance for miners to have cooperative arrangements on power production to reduce power challenges that recurrently threaten production.

“We have advocated for collective thinking around this aspect and in some instances, dedicated power lines have been put in place for the bigger mines. Cooperative arrangements can also assist where smaller-scale miners require such services. Solar is usable in households and sometimes it may not be sufficient for baseload in the mining industry. We are also striving to go green on the other hand. So, solar is the best option as an alternative for household use while the main grid becomes more for industrially high energy consumption sectors. At the moment these are the main sources of power in the country. Many others are not yet locally fully developed for effective use,” he said.

How Mine conducts exploration to expand operations

Mining
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How Mine conducts exploration to expand operations

BULAWAYO Mining Company How Mine has embarked on a surface and underground exploration exercise aimed at opening up the resource base to enhance business expansion.

Exploration activities are critical for mining operation as they help identity the available minerals deposits that can be commercially extracted, thereby helping to determine the company’s future and possibility for expansion.

The company’s managing director, Mr Kimbton Chiota, told delegates during a recent standards re-certification ceremony held at the mine that the business was keen on expansion as it seeks to contribute to the national mining targets.

“The mine is currently carrying out explorations, both on surface and underground in order to open up the resource base for expansion,” said Mr Chiota.

“We remain focused on contributing towards the Government’s target of a US$12 billion mining industry by the year 2023.”

The mining industry is one of the sectors anchoring the economy and is set to drive the country towards the attainment of an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

In 2019, the Government launched the US$12 billion mining industry to be achieved by 2023.

The multi-billion-dollar industry will be driven by gold, platinum, diamond, chrome, iron ore, coal, lithium, and other minerals.

How Mine recorded 59 percent gold output in 2021, which was beyond what the company targeted as their pegged target for 2021 was 50 percent.

“I am pleased to announce to you that How Mine set new mining and milling production records in the year 2021.

“Gold output increased to 59 percent as compared to the previous year,” said Mr Chiota.

The improved performance was on the back of a capital injection of US$5 million for the shaft sinking project, which opened up new mining areas and the project was commissioned in the last quarter of the year 2020.

During the ceremony, How Mine was awarded Standard Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) certification for successfully using internationally recognised management procedures.

“Today, our company receives recognition for successfully implementing internationallyrecognised management systems, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 9001:2015,” said Mr Chiota.

“What we are witnessing here today is a business that has reached some of the highest principles expected of businesses in the modern world.

“It means that, today, Bulawayo Mining Company is committing itself to the highest standards in its operations and in its service to the community, and to our country.”

Mr Chiota said the mine started with the implementation of the ISO 14001:2004 environmental management system, which was a commitment to the highest standards in managing and protecting environment.

“We also implemented the globally renowned behaviour-based safety programme as a result, we saw a massive drop in annual injury numbers by 60 percent,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, SAZ director-general Eve Gadzikwa said the company had been recognised for its commitment to ensure safety of workers and the environment.

“This important milestone underlines the determination and commitment of management and staff in safeguarding the health and safety of staff and stakeholders and protecting the environment,” she said. 

 

The Chronicle

Sibanye gold miners to strike over pay until wage demands met

Mining
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Sibanye gold miners to strike over pay until wage demands met

The biggest mining unions at Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. voted to strike at its gold operations until their wage demands are met, one of the groups said after a collective gathering of members.

The National Union of Mineworkers, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, UASA and Solidarity, met in Carletonville, about 79 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg, to discuss pay negotiations.
The members rejected the latest offer by Sibanye to increase monthly wages 700 rand ($46) annually for three years and are demanding 1,000 rand for the same period, said NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu. The start of a strike hasn’t been decided, but will occur after notice is served on Monday, he said.

The NUM and AMCU, which have had a longstanding rivalry resulting in sometimes violent clashes as they campaigned to win or retain membership, are the biggest unions in the gold sector. Along with the two other groups they demanded in September an increase of 1,500 rand a month, which Sibanye described as unaffordable and said that it would result in the early closure of shafts. The labor groups early this year were granted a certificate to strike.

Sibanye’s Beatrix, Driefontein and Kloof mines employ about 31,000 workers in an industry that’s struggling to curb costs amid the geological challenges of the world’s deepest mines.

Bloomberg

BREAKING: Chinese company buys Bikita Minerals

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BREAKING: Chinese company buys Bikita Minerals

Chinese giant Sinomine’s Hong Kong unit inked an agreement to buy a 100 per cent stake in Mauritius’ African Metals Management Services and Southern African Metals and Minerals on Jan. 29, the Beijing-based parent company said in a statement on the 8th of February 2022.

The two firms own a 74 per cent stake in Bikita Minerals, whose major asset is the Bikita lithium mine project in Zimbabwe.

The acquisition however is still to be subject to the review of the governments of China, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe, Sinomine added, noting that once the internal restructuring and share repurchase of Bikita Minerals is completed, it will increase its stake to 100 per cent.

Bikita Minerals, located in the Bikita hills of Masvingo province in Zimbabwe, has been an active mining site for around 100 years.

For over 50 years, the mining and extraction of lithium minerals has been at the centre of Bikita Minerals’ activities. Today, Bikita Minerals is the World’s foremost supplier of the lithium mineral Petalite.

Zimbabweans across the globe slammed the recent acquisition of Prospect Resources owned Arcadia mine by Chinese giant China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. Many expressed their displeasure of the country letting such futuristic mines go into foreign hands. Some however preferred such minerals go to local business people like Kudakwashe Tagwirei than to foreign companies.

All eyes will now be on the Bindura based Mirroplex Private Limited lithium project in Shamva.

Mirrorplex is an exploration company focusing on developing battery mineral resources in Zimbabwe.

The project which is poised to become Zimbabwe’s biggest hard rock lithium resource has the potential to grow into a world-class lithium mine with Results from 240 Rock Chip samples taken from the exposed Bonnyvale pegmatite body at the Shamva Lithium Project provides high-grade lithium assay results up to 3.13% Li2O and surface sampling at the Loch Ness prospect has revealed two more pegmatites containing high Li2O grades up to 4.82% Li2O.

Speculatively sitting on over 6 million tonnes of lithium highest grade ore, Mirrorplex is working on Stage two drilling which consists of reverse circulation aimed at confirming mineralisation beneath Lochness North, South Bonny Vale and Hereford East and West as well as testing for extensions of mineralisation.

The mine reportedly boasts of greater lithium grades than Zimbabwe and Africa’s largest lithium producer, Bikita minerals and Prospect Resources’s Arcadia lithium project whose grades are below 3.0% Li2O.

According to Mirrorplex Director Mr Nyasha Chidoh, the Lithium mineralisation at the Shamva project defined over ~160m thickness and ~550m strike at the surface in the Bonnyvale Pegmatite.

Police arrest 60 at Jumbo Mine and Storis areas

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Police arrest 60 at Jumbo Mine and Storis areas

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on Tuesday arrested 60 people under the operation ‘Chikorokoza Ngachipere/ Isitsheketsha Kasiphele and No to Machete Gangs’ at Jumbo Mine and Storis area in Mazowe.

Anerudo Mapuranga

The police in a statement said the ZRP Mazowe arrested the 60 people for various offences.

“Police in Mazowe arrested 60 people for various offences under operation ‘Chikorokoza Ngachipere/ Isitsheketsha Kasiphele and No to Machete Gangs’ at Jumbo Mine and Storis area,” the police said in a statement.

The ZRP also informed the nation that a total of 40 machete wielding criminals who are in the habit of robbing artisanal miners were arrested at Kitsiyatota in Bindura.

The arrests were made on February 6, 2022, in an operation to end machete gang violence at mines dubbed Chikorokoza Ngachipere/ Isitsheketsha Kasiphele (No to Machete Gang robberies).

In a statement, police said they recovered valuable assets, four vehicles, 21 compressors, five Nexus generators, 25 litres of diesel, six mattocks, 10 explosive fuses, 10 Emex explosives, 13 hammers, two iron bars, a jerrycan and a 30-metre nylon rope from the gang.

They urged members of the public that lost their properties to the machete gangs to visit their nearest police stations.

Fidelity official gold buying prices Friday 11 February 2021

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Fidelity official gold buying prices Friday 11 February 2021

SG 90% AND ABOVE US$56.05/g
SG ABOVE 85% BUT BELOW 90% US$55.17/g
SG ABOVE 80% BUT BELOW 85% US$54.58/g
SG ABOVE 75% BUT BELOW 80% US$53.99/g
SAMPLE BELOW 10g BUT ABOVE 5g US$53.10/g
FIRE ASSAY CASH US$56.05/g

Exchange rate 118.8748

  • NB: Fire Assay cash price is for gold above 100gs and no sample is deducted.
  • For Fire Assay Transfer price, a sample of not more than 10g is deducted
  • 2% royalty is charged on all deposits (Small-scale Miners)
  • 5% royalty is charged on Primary Producers

Cash available. Fidelity Gold Refiners prices will be changing daily in relation to world market prices.

Goldman sees copper price “breakout”, risk of “extreme scarcity episode”

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Goldman sees copper price “breakout”, risk of “extreme scarcity episode”

After a 26% rise in 2021, copper prices have struggled for direction this year.  On Thursday, March futures made another attempt to find higher ground, jumping to $4.7085 a pound ($10,380 a tonne), only  to give back those gains by the end of the day.

In a new research report Goldman Sachs, a bank, says the copper price is “building towards a breakout” as worries about the global economy, particularly China’s engine of growth – property, begin to ease:

“With a diversified set of demand drivers – from EVs to electrical grids – sustaining a very tight micro into 2022, we believe that copper will reprice once these broader macro concerns abate.”

Goldman says the limited seasonal build-up of copper inventories from record low levels – currently at just over 200,000 tonnes scarcely enough to cover three days of global consumption  –  is “entirely insufficient to tackle” its expected deficit of 197,000  tonnes for this year.

“The longer this continues, the higher the risk of extreme scarcity episode by the end of the year,” Goldman said in its report released Tuesday.

Mid-October copper futures jumped to an intra-day high of $4.82 a pound or $10,633 a tonne in New York after available LME inventories fell to its lowest since 1974.

Goldman believes the copper market has just two years of primary production growth left.

After fresh tonnes from the likes of Ivanhoe Mines Kamoa-Kakula in the Congo, Anglo American’s greenfield Quellaveco project in Peru and Teck Resources Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 in Chile hit the market, the investment bank sees “an open-ended decline in mine supply.”

Amid long-standing issues such as declining grades and a dearth of new projects there is also growing uncertainty in Chile, the world’s top producer by a long stretch, about onerous taxation and threats of state appropriation.

Goldman says a mining royalty bill before the South American nation’s parliament has the potential to put at risk as much as one million tonnes of production.

​​”Such political uncertainty raises the threshold for much needed investment in future mine supply, creating an additional hurdle for prices to overcome.”

In the report Goldman reiterated its bullish forecast for copper to average $11,875 a tonne ($5.40/lbs) in 2021, rising steadily to $15,000 ($6.80/lbs) during 2025.

Mining

BNC board confident after VFEX move

Mining
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BNC board confident after VFEX move

BINDURA Nickel Corporation (BNC) says it expects its migration to the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) to begin benefiting the firm in the long term.

Under a strategy spelt out by chairperson, Muchadeyi Masunda in December, the firm delisted from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to trade its stock on the foreign currency-denominated VFEX, a new bourse that began operating in October 2020.

Listing on the VFEX has generally been low, with only four counters trading since its launch.

Chamisa comes to Mwonzora’s rescue
However, in a trading update for the nine months ended December 31, 2021, the firm said although there had been little trades, VFEX presented an opportunity for the firm to unlock shareholder value.

“The company’s shares were delisted from the ZSE on 15 December 2021 and BNC became the fourth company to be listed on VFEX … As at 31 December 2021, no trading had been recorded in the company’s shares. Since then, however, there have been minimal trades. The board believes that the migration will, in the long term, be of immense benefit to both the company and shareholders directly,” the firm said.

BNC said ore mined for the quarter decreased by 14% to 100 643 tonnes, compared to 116 525 tonnes during the previous year.

The firm attributed the decline to “below budget underground mobile mining equipment”.

However, BNC said ore grade improved during the quarter compared to the corresponding period in 2020.

In December, Masunda said he viewed the migration to VFEX as a crucial step towards bolstering Zimbabwe’s plan to transform the mining industry to a US$12 billion economy by next year.

Zimbabwe’s mines currently generate about US$3 billion annually.

He said apart from its ability to raise foreign currency, special fiscal and monetary incentives extended to companies listed on the VFEX would unlock shareholder value.

 

 

 

Newsday

Parly praises CUT for venturing into Lithium batteries making

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Parly praises CUT for venturing into Lithium batteries making

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development Chairperson Hon Edmond Mkaratigwa has hailed Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) for taking a positive stride in keeping up with world trends by venturing into the development of lithium batteries.

Rudairo Mapuranga

Lithium-ion batteries are by far the most important power storage devices available on the world market. At present, they dominate the sector of portable electronics and are the solution of choice in the automotive sector. Other important applications are also foreseen, including storage in electric grids.

According to Mkaratigwa the development by CUT to venture into lithium-ion battery manufacturing is in line with the National Development Strategy_1 where the mining sector and in particular the lithium industry through the US$12 Billion mining roadmap is expected to fetch an annual revenue of US$0.5 billion by 2023.

“It is quite a positive stride that Chinhoyi University will be producing lithium-ion batteries this year. That is part of the National Development Strategy implementation outcomes and we attribute all that to the visionary leadership of His Excellency, the President of the Republic, Cde Dr E. D. Mnangagwa, whose desire is to see Zimbabwe innovating, value-adding, self-helping and self-sustaining. We have to work harder, grow our innovation hubs and businesses, and secure our market niche.” He said.

Mkaratigwa however said that it was of importance for CUT to partner companies in the battery manufacturing sector for experience as well as tapping into the right capital injection strategies.

“On Chinhoyi University, these institutions have the brains but they may not have the experience, hence, it is key for them to consider partnering as well as innovating and selling some of the more capital intensive innovation rights, as many of these in Israel among other countries do, depending on the mix of optimum business sustainability models chosen. As a country and sector, we are however happy because we can see the signs of the promise manifesting like a joke, and to eyes that wills to see, we are a blessed part of the multitude of witnesses. We expect more and we appreciate our academic institutions’ key roles in national industry and broader economic development.” Mkaratigwa said.

It was reported earlier this month that the Chinhoyi University of Technology is set to start producing lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen mid this year.

CUT is also expected to design battery casings using its 3D printing machine at the hub, located 7km south of the institution’s main campus, in the industrial area of the provincial capital.

The university’s lithium battery production innovation is part of the other two energy production projects that the Innovation Hub has embarked on.

It has a 24-kilowatt solar-powered grid that sufficiently supports the hub’s needs while efforts to start extracting hydrogen from water for energy purposes are at an advanced stage.

The project acting director, Professor Wilbert Mtangi, who also directs the Institute of Materials Science Processing and Technology said that the incubation of the lithium-ion battery production was almost complete.

“We are getting the lithium spodumene ore from Bikita Minerals, which we are processing in such a way that it gives us lithium needed for lithium-ion battery production. The batteries will be for the institution’s power energy as we try to address the challenges of power cuts. There is also hope that we will be going commercial,” he said

Small-scale miners target 25t of gold in 2022

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Small-scale miners target 25t of gold in 2022

Small scale and artisanal miners (ASM) have the potential to deliver over 25 tonnes of gold to the country’s sole gold buyer and exporter Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) in 2022, Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) CEO Mr Wellington Takavarasha has said.

Rudairo Mapuranga

According to Takavarasha, the miners are responding well to the government’s 2023 vision which has seen ASM increasing their production capacity.

“There is a government will to promote small-scale and artisanal miners. We have started on a high note as small-scale miners have already submitted 2.4 tonnes (unconfirmed) of gold this year. There is a commitment from miners to make sure that gold deliveries increase,” the ZMF CEO said.

Takavarasha said ZMF was going to engage other stakeholders like the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the Rural District Councils (RDC) to lower their fees for the small-scale and artisanal mining sector to encourage their growth.

“We will also continue to engage other stakeholders like EMA and RDCZ,” he said.

The ZMF Chief said the determination by the Ministry of Mines and Mining development in supporting the formalisation and regularisation drive to enhance a revolution in the ASM sector was encouraging to the miners.

He said that the Ministry has put a committee on formalisation and is going to hold a two-day workshop pondering on what needs to be done to have a reliable and sustainable small scale and artisanal mining sector that has the capacity to revive the economy of Zimbabwe towards the 2030 mining vision.

“The Ministry of Mines has put a committee for formalisation, there is going to be a two-day workshop on formalisation meaning the government is willing to support the small scale miners. The RBZ for the first time also put out a statement appreciating small scale miners,” Takavarasha said.

Through the National Development Strategy_1 (NDS_1) where the country is expected to become an upper-middle-income economy by 2030, the mining sector is expected to fetch an annual revenue of US$12 Billion by 2023. The small-scale mining sector through ZMF has vowed to contribute annual revenue of US$4 billion of the US$12 billion mining industry.

ZMF is by far Zimbabwe’s biggest mining body with a membership of over 1 million.

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