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Govt hikes fuel prices

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Govt hikes fuel prices

Fuel prices went up with effect from Monday this week in line with the weakening exchange rate and rising world oil prices.

Motorists will now have to part with US$1,34 for a litre of petrol, up from US$1,30 since March 5, 2021. Diesel remains unchanged at US$1,32.

In Zimbabwe dollar terms, petrol will retail at $112,96 from $109,17 while the pump price for diesel moved up slightly to $111,77 from $110,41.

Even though brent crude oil price at US$64 a barrel has fallen below recent peak of US$69,95 per barrel, the price is still above beginning of the year of approximately US$52.

Analysts say while the government and the central bank were using a monetary targeting framework to keep the exchange rate and prices in check, the country could still suffer from cost push inflation including imported inflation from fuel.

There is continued pressure on the cost of doing business and this has seen prices of basic commodities going up in the last couple of weeks.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu, told a local radio station on Sunday that prices of basic commodities have significantly increased in the past few days.

He said suppliers and manufacturers indicated the continued pressure on the general cost of doing business in the economy owing to increases in fuel.

“Tollgates have also gone up, and the general cost of procurement of raw materials that has continued to push prices to the north.

“Statutory increases, as well as local licences such as shop licenses that have shot up dramatically, have also contributed,” Mutashu said.

Some analysts have, however, called on Government to reduce the cost of fuel taxes to cushion the consumer and business from inflationary pressures caused by fuel price increases.

Taxes and levies on fuel constitute almost US50 cents of the total fuel prices, resulting in fuel becoming more in Zimbabwe compared to the region.

Cutting fuel prices could thus be a smart stimulus package given adverse economic impacts of Covid-19 to both businesses and the consumer.

 

Business Weekly

Henrietta Rushwaya gets vaccinated against Covid-19

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Henrietta Rushwaya gets vaccinated against Covid-19
  • Rushwaya becomes the first high-ranking mining Industry official to publicly participate and encourage participation in the vaccination program.
  • She encourages Artisanal and Small-scale Miners to vaccinate against the novel coronavirus.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Ms. Henrietta Rushwaya received her first jab of Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccination early today at Borrowdale clinic and has encouraged Artisanal and Small-scale Miners to bulletproof against the novel coronavirus.

Rudairo Mapuranga

The ZMF President said it was of importance for miners to embrace the government vaccination program to prevent infections from Covid-19 third wave.

“Please kindly go to your nearest Health Centre and get vaccinated. Covid-19 is real and let us go and get inoculated. As Miners, we need to embrace this free gesture extended to us by our government,” Rushwaya said.

Rushwaya becomes the first high-ranking mining Industry official to publicly participate and encourage participation in the vaccination program. She joins other high-ranking officials who include President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Vice President and Health Minister Dr. Constantino Chiwenga. Chiwenga was the first person to receive the jab in Zimbabwe setting the ball rolling for the government’s plan to vaccinate approximately 60 percent of the population.

The Chinese manufactured vaccine Sinopharm was issued with a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificate by Hungarian authorities, making it the first Chinese manufactured vaccine to receive such a certificate from an EU country.

The Covid-19 pandemic vaccine is also the first Chinese manufactured vaccine authorised for emergency use by the EU.

According to the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, GMP is a system for ensuring that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards. It is designed to minimize the risks involved in any pharmaceutical production that cannot be eliminated through testing the final product.

About Covid-19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment.

How Covid-19 Spreads

The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air and quickly fall on floors or surfaces.

You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within close proximity of someone who has COVID-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth. COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Most infected people will develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalization.

Most common symptoms:

  • Fever
  • Dry cough
  • Tiredness

Less common symptoms:

  • Aches and pains
  • Sore throat
  • Diarrhoea
  • Conjunctivitis
  • Headache
  • Loss of taste or smell
  • A rash on the skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes

In Zimbabwe, from 3 January 2020 to 4:34 pm CEST, 4 April 2021, there have been 36,911 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,524 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 25 March 2021, a total of 44,135 vaccine doses have been administered.

South Africa union seeks 15% wage hike from gold miners and Eskom

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South Africa union seeks 15% wage hike from gold miners and Eskom

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday it planned to seek a hike of at least 15% in a three-year wage deal at upcoming negotiations with gold miners and state utility Eskom.

NUM said it would consolidate the wage demands from all sectors it operates in, and would seek increases of between 15% to 20%, or 15,000 rand ($1,016) minimum, alongside other demands including medical aid contributions and covid-19 health and safety leave.

Higher gold prices, which reached a record in August last year, boosted 2020 earnings and offered mining companies a lifeline following production disruptions because of the covid-19 pandemic.

“Given the good dividend performances by mining companies NUM enters this season of negotiations in high spirit for a good settlement,” NUM said.

Gold producers have in the past argued that above-inflation wage hikes cannot be sustained unless prices also rise.

They say higher wages could also add to already high costs in an industry the has the world’s deepest mines.

Unions argue wages remain too low, a legacy of the apartheid era when the Black mining labour force was ruthlessly exploited.

The demands far exceed the current inflation rate of 2.9%, raising the prospect of tough negotiations with companies, including Sibanye Stillwater, Harmony Gold, and smaller producer Village Main Reef.

A double-digit wage increase is likely to pile further pressure on Eskom, which is choking under a mountain of debt, and regularly implements scheduled power cuts because of repeated faults at its ailing coal-fired power station fleet.

Eskom’s spokesman declined to comment on the demands.

Sibanye Stillwater’s spokesman said they would address demands during the wage talks.

Harmony Gold and Village Main Reef could not immediately be reached for comment.

Negotiations with Eskom are expected to begin on April 20, while an exact date has not yet been set for the start of talks with gold miners.

($1 = 14.7700 rand)

Germany to shut 1.5 GW of coal generation by December

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Germany to shut 1.5 GW of coal generation by December

Germany is shutting down more than 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired generation by Dec. 8 this year, the country’s energy regulator said on Thursday, announcing the results of a second round of auctions meant to mitigate the cost of closing polluting plants.

Chancellor Angela Merkel approved last year a $55 billion plan to phase out of more than 100 coal-fired power stations across the country by 2038.

Europe’s largest economy has also promised to achieve a mostly carbon-free energy system by 2050. Its timetable, however, could present challenges to the European Union’s efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions sooner — by at least 40% by 2030.

Most of the 28 EU states aim to become carbon-neutral by 2050 — that is, carbon emissions should be balanced by carbon-reduction measures. Poland, however, relies heavily on coal and has a temporary exemption.

German utilities had until Jan. 4 to submit tenders under the mechanism aimed at ensuring the country exits coal in the next 17 years.

CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL APPROVED LAST YEAR A $55 BILLION PLAN TO PHASE OUT OF MORE THAN 100 COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY BY 2038.

The country is running a series of tenders in which operators declare the price at which they would be prepared to close plants that use hard coal. In return, they are offered funds to offset some of their losses.

The regulator sets a maximum price per MW of capacity to cap the public sector bill. The ultimate price takes into account bidders’ offers and the CO2 emissions of the plants in question.

After 2027, compensation will no longer be available, so operators are ready to bid as low as possible to avoid losing out to competitors.

“The auction was again oversubscribed,” Jochen Homann, the head of the Bundesnetzagentur regulator, said in the statement. “The highest award lies significantly below the previously set maximum price.”

Germany is the world’s largest producer of lignite (or brown coal), which fuels about 19% of the country’s electricity capacity. That kind of coal is considered the most polluting type because its low heat content means more must be burned and it contains large amounts of impurities such as toxic chemicals.

Mining.com

Mimosa donates US$130k equipment to MSU

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Mimosa donates US$130k equipment to MSU

Mimosa Mining Company has handed over state-of-the-art training and research equipment worth US$130 000 to the Midlands State University Faculty of Engineering and Geo-sciences.

The donation is in line with the company’s “Invest Beyond Mining” drive, comprising Wi-Fi enabled microscopes, one of which has an in-built camera, a Wi-Fi router and a 7th generation iPad.

The donated equipment is the latest microscope technology and only the MSU and one other university in South Africa have that state-of-the-art equipment in the region.

Speaking during the hand-over ceremony at the MSU Zvishavane Campus last week, Mimosa general manager, Engineer Stephen Ndiyamba said the donation was motivated by the company’s guiding philosophy to nurture partnerships and ‘invest beyond mining’.

“We realise the value of education and we have made this sector one of the critical areas of our intervention in the quest to improve academic excellence in the nation,” said Engineer Ndiyamba.

The new philosophy has seen the mining concern supporting MSU and other academic institutions in the country through infrastructure development, provision of equipment, learning aids and scholarships.

“We believe that in making such investments, Mimosa will be investing in Zimbabwe’s future. It is this quest to provide the equipment needed for students to excel that has motivated us as Mimosa to partner with the Midlands State University in the provision of training and research equipment in the form of microscopes.

Speaking while receiving the equipment, MSU pro vice-chancellor for Research and Academic Affairs Professor Alois Chiromo said it would assist in capacitating the institution to improve quality of education.

“Your contribution is a most welcome development, that will see the Midlands State University realise its goals. As Mimosa Mining Company you have made a huge investment in your human resources. The students that we are teaching here, will become your human resources. So, by investing in us, you will be investing in your future human resources,” he said.

Mimosa Mining Company has a long relationship with the Midlands State University which has seen many of its employees enrolling for various capacity building programmes at the institution of higher learning.

New Ziana

Prospect courts investor for Arcadia project

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Prospect courts investor for Arcadia project

Prospect Resources is in discussions with an investor to develop its Arcadia Lithium project under a joint venture contract.

The company is also engaging its existing off-take partners as well as several potential off-take partners in relation to its spodumene production and its staged development plan.

Prospect said these activities will be run in parallel with the preparation of the revised feasibility study to deliver a more certain implementation plan.

“The company is advancing discussions with strategic corporate and institutional financiers as well as early-stage discussions to consider a development joint venture with a large corporate investor,” Prospect said in a statement.

The company said  it has decided to focus the pilot plant  at Arcadia on producing technical grade petalite samples using the dense medium separation (DMS) in accordance with the project’s existing feasibility study flow sheet rather than both petalite and spodumene samples using a flotation flow sheet.

The DMS flow sheet is considered the lower risk pathway to near-term production as determined through detailed analysis by management and a number of external third-party experts.

The company notes that petalite as a proportion of the Arcadia mineral endowment was significant and increasing the recovery of petalite and maximising sales into the technical market is an important strategic objective as the project progresses.

The pilot plant is considered as a key long-term operational asset for the company and its operation alongside commercial operations is considered vital as it will allow for geo-metallurgical confirmation and optimisation for each ore type prior to feed into the commercial operation.

The pilot plant is expected to produce and ship samples in the first half of this year.

According to the company, the production and export of petalite produced by the pilot plant will provide validation of the readiness of the regulatory and fiscal regime that will apply to the commercial operation.

This “commercial road-test” is expected to de-risk this element of the project for lenders and investors by demonstrating sales receipts through the off-take agreement and the ability to deal freely with foreign currency receipts.

The operation of the pilot plant will allow for the accumulation of knowledge during design, mitigating the scaling issues that peer lithium producers have experienced on account of a too rapid growth in supply.

The petalite flotation increases flow sheet risk, increases capital and operating cost against initial assessments, and would require considerable time and effort to fine tune and perfect for use in a commercial operation.

 

 

Business Times

Zim loses US$1.7bn to gold smuggling

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Zim loses US$1.7bn to gold smuggling

Zimbabwe could have lost gold worth US$1.67bn last year through smuggling and unfavourable mining policies which negatively impacted on the competitiveness of the sector, Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) general manager Fradreck Kunaka, has said.

Kunaka said at least 30 tonnes could have been shipped out illegally.

He suggested that Zimbabwe should totally liberalise the gold sector to combat smuggling and compete at the highest level with foreign gold buyers.

Kunaka said the gold sector requires a wholesome change of policies in order to entertain the hopes of reaching 100 tonnes by 2023. Last year, 19 tonnes of gold was delivered to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, which was a 31% decline from the 27.7 tonnes reported in 2019.

“….There is a big possibility that the country might have extracted over 50 tonnes but hefty tonnes might have been lost through leakages,” Kunaka told Business Times as he called for more players in gold buying for the sector to be competitive.

Government is targeting 100 tonnes.  But, it appears, it will be a ‘tough ask’.

“If we liberalise the sector we might near the century mark,” Kunaka said.

Delays in payments of gold delivered to Fidelity and low foreign currency retention levels have worsened the situation, forcing small scale gold producers to take the yellow metal to lucrative alternative markets.

The unfriendly policies which affect the competitiveness of the sector and smuggling, Kunaka said, saw the country losing a great deal of revenue.

The country is offering the large scale miners 60% forex retention and small scale miners are getting 100% forex but are charged with high royalties and cost of importing United States dollars. This means they get a lesser amount of gold world prices.

Yesterday’s gold price was US$55,024 per kilogramme, but with royalties and other punitive costs small scale miners get under US$50 000 per kg.

Official data obtained from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe show a downward trend in yellow metal deliveries . Gold deliveries for the month of January 2021 stood at 0.99 tonnes from 2.54 tonnes reported in the prior comparative period.

Large mining houses delivered 0.64 tonnes while small scale miners delivered 0.35 tonnes to FPR.

In February this year, gold deliveries fell 16% to reach 1.17 tonnes from 1.403 tonnes in the same month last year.

Gold export receipts in January 2021 were down to US$53.1m from US$98.1m reported in January last year due to subdued deliveries.

Gold Miners Association of Zimbabwe CEO Irvine Chinyenze said the liberalisation of the gold sector would bring competitiveness.

“This would also increase gold deliveries and export receipts which will help the fiscus,” Chinyenze said.

Gold export receipts fell 6% in 2020 to US$994.7m from US$1,058bn during 2019 largely due to Covid-19 implications, side marketing, smuggling and delays in payments.

In his 2021 Monetary Policy Statement, Mangudya said side marketing was one of the reasons for the decline in gold deliveries last year.

In a recent mining report, experts advised that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government should pay gold producers at world prices to woo them into selling the yellow metal through the formal channels.

The report blamed FPR’s flawed centralised gold buying scheme and called for the law to bring complicit powerful politicians to book as they are believed to be sponsors of machete gangs’ violence in Midlands and Mazowe.

The report said the development of the gold sector was crucial if the government was to salvage prospects for Zimbabwe’s economic recovery from decades of economic stagnation.

 

 

Business Times

Mining Workers Petition Govt Over Being ‘Turned Labourers’

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Mining Workers Petition Govt Over Being ‘Turned Labourers’

MINE workers have petitioned government over what they feel were unfair labour practices by employers who have virtually turned them into mere labourers operating on short-term contracts.

In a letter to government recently, the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) said the casualisation of labour has become rampant among Zimbabwean mines.

The workers group said the problem emanated from the National Employment Council (NEC) which has not gazetted limits on the number of fixed term contracts within the mining industry.

“We address the Honourable Minister in reference to rampant casualisation of labour in the mining industry.

“The problem is emanating from the fact that our NEC has not set limits on a number of fixed term contracts in the mining industry,” Zdamwu said.

The union claimed most mines were exploiting their employees.

“Most employers in the mining industry are making workers sign consecutive fixed term contract on end.

“There is no cap as to the number of fixed term contracts a person can sign.

“Employees end up being engaged for several years but being made to sign a fixed term contract usually every month, or if one is lucky, they get a three month contract.

“This is being done regardless of the fact that the particular job will be permanent in nature.

“This was never the intention of the legislature when it provided for fixed term contracts. Fixed term contracts are mostly for temporary work, seasonal, or for a specific task.

“The mining industry is abusing this by engaging workers on short term contracts, thereby destroying job security completely.

“How can a person work for one company for 10 years continuously but remains a contract worker?” the union wrote.

The union is calling upon the minister to exercise his powers and set limits one could work on fixed contract.

“Our NEC has not set limits by amending or incorporating the spirit of Act 5 of 2015. However, as you may note, there is remedy provided for at law in case the specific industry NEC sleeps on the job.

Govt coaxes Hwange villagers to accept Chinese miners

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Govt coaxes Hwange villagers to accept Chinese miners

GOVERNMENT has today sent a high-powered delegation to Hwange in a bid to coax Dinde villagers to allow a Chinese coal mining project to take off after they had resisted it citing eviction fears.

Villagers in Dinde are living in fear of eviction to pave way for the Chinese Beifa Investment company to start its coal mining operations.

A civic society group, Centre for Natural Resources Governance (CNRG), and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) are now pursuing legal action to stop the eviction of the villagers.

Southern Eye heard that Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs minister Richard Moyo and Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando will be in Dinde today to engage the villagers over the coal mining project.

Moyo confirmed the visit yesterday.

He appealed to the Dinde community to allow the Chinese firm to start operations, adding that the villagers stood to benefit from the project through job creation, among others.

“I will be accompanying the Mines minister to the area to engage the community and hear their concerns. There must have been some poor communication about this project, hence villagers have been resisting,” Moyo said.

“However, this investment will benefit the community through jobs and so forth, but if the villagers do not want it, that will be okay. However, if this investment goes to other parts of the country, there must be no crying foul on issues of lack of jobs and development.”

The proposed Dinde project comes a few months after government was forced to reverse a decision to let two other Chinese firms explore for coal inside the Hwange National Park.

Environmentalists took government to court in September 2020 to prevent ecological degradation after two Chinese firms were given exploration rights in the country’s biggest national park.

Reports indicate that desperate Dinde villagers intend to petition Parliament to stop the coal mining project.

Dinde is home to thousands of Nambyas and Tongas with a preponderance of the Tonga tribe which first settled in the then Whange district up to Victoria Falls upstream of the Zambezi River centuries ago.

They were settled in the Dinde area after their relocation from Sinamatela area in the 1920s to pave way for the establishment of Hwange National Park.

 

NewsDay

Fidelity official gold buying prices Thursday 1 April 2021

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Fidelity official gold buying prices Thursday 1 April 2021

Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) official gold buying prices Thursday 1 April 2021

  • SG 90% AND ABOVE $48.65/g
  • SG ABOVE 85% BUT BELOW 90% $47.84/g
  • SG ABOVE 80% BUT BELOW 85% $46.75/g
  • SG ABOVE 75% BUT BELOW 80% $46.21/g
  • SAMPLE BELOW 10g BUT ABOVE 5g $47.30/g
  • FIRE ASSAY CASH $48.93/g

 

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

Contact FPR

No. 1 George Drive, Msasa, Harare, Email: [email protected], Telephone: +263 242-486670, +263 242-486694, +263 242-487131, +263 242-447810-5

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