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Rushwaya donates equipment to Shangani Women Miners

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Rushwaya donates equipment to Shangani Women Miners

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya on Saturday donated mining equipment and consumables to women miners in Insiza to help increase production in line with the President’s vision for the mining sector achieving US$12 BILLION annually by 2023.

Rudairo Mapuranga

The Federation President donated mining equipment and consumables that includes compressors, generators, explosives and other consumables to Shangani Women Miners Association in Matabeleland South Province.

Rushwaya sourced equipment from Friends and partners and the equipment is being distributed to miners across the country to help them mechanise their operations and maximise production to help the sector attain President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision for the sector achieving a US$12 Billion industry by 2023.

Speaking at a handover ceremony held in Insiza on Saturday, the ZMF boss said the Federation was distributing equipment and consumables to help improve productivity.

“Here we are leaving a compressor because it is one of the main gaps we thought you have as you seek to boost your operations,” Rushwaya said to a group of women miners in Insiza.

“We are giving you a compressor to start with and if you feel you have other needs, you can request for assistance just as you have previously done. The end game for this is we want you to boost production in line with what His Excellency is saying under the 2023 mining sector target and expedite the attainment of an upper-middle-income economy even before 2030,” Ms Henrietta Rushwaya said.

She also said the federation hoped that Government will continue prioritising locals in small-scale mining, which requires less capital injection most of which can be mobilised by locals as opposed to conglomerate mining that needs a huge capital injection.

The event was attended by District Administrator Mr. Jusa Zachariah, Chief Jahana, Insiza senator Ms Molly Mpofu, Shangani Women Miners and their chairperson Sikholisiwe Mandityira among others.

Miners urged to prioritize the development of communities

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Miners urged to prioritize the development of communities

Small scale and artisanal miners have been urged to embrace and prioritise the development and growth of the communities they are operating in as a way of giving back to the community.

Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya made the call at the weekend where she donated mining equipment and consumables that include compressors, generators and explosives to women miners in Insiza North.

The ZMF boss sourced equipment from friends and partners. The equipment is being distributed to miners across the country to help them mechanise their operations to maximize production as well as improve the formalisation of the sector leading to growth and development.

Small scale and artisanal miners are playing a leading role in economic turnaround and development accounting for an average of 60 percent of gold and chrome submissions in the country.

Ms Rushwaya said miners should not leave the role of community development to District Administrators and Councillors but should be at the centre stage making sure that community needs are met through their involvement.

She also urged miners to air their grievances and challenges in a formalised and organised manner so that their stories can be heard and addressed quickly and efficiently.

“As miners, we should develop our environment and communities, let was not leave the DA and Chiefs alone moving with community development agendas, let us be on the centre stage developing our communities.

“WhatsApp and Twitter will never bring development, engage the councillors, DA, local MPs and Senators because complaining and crying on social media will never give intended results, engagement is key towards development,” she said.

The ZMF boss also encouraged membership and the government to consider special interest groups such as women, youth and war vets in mining ventures.

She said that her organization was making recommendations to the government to make sure that mining assets that are being repossessed by the Government under the ” Use it or lose it” principle prioritized in distribution to war veterans and women.

Rushwaya also said that the Federation was engaging the government in an effort to have small-scale mining strictly reserved to locals.

ZMF calls a Special General Council Meeting

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ZMF calls a Special General Council Meeting

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has called for a general meeting in an endeavour to drive the small-scale and artisanal miners’ regulation and formalization exercise.

Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

In a notice to members, ZMF Secretary-General Mr. Morgan Mugawu said the meeting will also discuss the amendment of the ZMF constitution as per the direction of the Special General Council Meeting held in 2019.

“You are cordially invited to attend a Special General Council Meeting to be held in Harare on the 16th of March 2021. The main agenda of the meeting is the amendment of The Zimbabwe Miners Federation Constitution pursuant to a resolution to that effect that was passed at a second Special General Council Meeting held in Kwekwe on the 11th of April 2019. Due to Covid-19 Restrictions please be advised that only 2 members from each association are invited.” he said.

The Federation is also going to discuss pertinent issues aimed at maximising mineral production to help the country become an upper-middle-income earner by 2030.

Small scale and artisanal miners are key players for the country to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision for the mining sector to achieve a US$12 Billion industry by 2023 as evidenced by the factor that the miners account for 60 percent of official gold submissions delivered to the country’s sole gold buyer and exporter, Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR).

The government has reiterated the importance of the small-scale mining sector to the country’s mining sector strategy as some rich mineral deposits are more amenable to small-scale mining than conglomerate mining.

School seeks to evict Murowa Diamond from premises

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School seeks to evict Murowa Diamond from premises

Madamombe Secondary School has dragged Murowa Diamond to court in an effort to evict the miner from the school premises for disrupting learning activities.

The School Development Committee (SDC) seeks for the court to evict Murowa Diamonds from the school grounds in Sese Communal Lands, where the company has been exploring diamonds for three years.

Murowa Diamonds was last year given an ultimatum to leave the area by SDC on grounds of not considering the community’s concerns.

The SDC has been arguing that Murowa was disrupting learning activities after camping at Danhamombe High School grounds from where it explores gems in kimberlite pipes discovered in the area.

Through its lawyers Matutu and Mureri, the SDC approached the Masvingo Civil Court seeking Murowa to be ejected from the school precincts within seven days from the issuance of summons.

The summons, dated 3 March 2021, cited the diamond miner as the first respondent and the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education as the second respondent.

Danhamombe SDC also wants Murowa to meet the costs of the suit.

Murowa is still to file a notice to defend the suit.

Murowa began exploring diamonds in Sese around 2018 and has nearly 200 mining claims in the area.

At one time, Murowa stood accused of having conducted drilling activities less than 100 metres from a classroom block at St Simon Zhara Primary School, which shares the grounds with Danhamombe High School, with the noise of the rig disrupting learning at Danhamombe High School.

The community, under the auspices of Sese Community Trust, first wrote to Government and the diamond miner demanding that Murowa decamps from Danhamombe High premises by December 5 last year.

Murowa was also accused of failing to engage the community to work out an amicable arrangement that satisfies both parties.

Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira at one time weighed in the dispute, saying it was improper for Murowa to camp within premises of a school.

President Mnangagwa also spoke about the issue during a visit to Chivi in December last year, urging Murowa to engage the Sese community to resolve the dispute.

Murowa owns a diamond mine in Zvishavane and the Sese community says they want a win-win situation with the gem extractor if it is to go ahead with mining activities in the area.

RioZim Murowa (a member of RioZim Limited) is a leading diamond mining company in Zimbabwe located in Zvishavane. It changed its name from Murowa Diamonds to RioZim Murowa in 2019.

Prospect Resources Managing Director awarded incentive options

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Prospect Resources Managing Director awarded incentive options

African lithium developer, Prospect Resources Limited has announced the award of incentives options to its Managing Director Mr Sam Hosack.

By Shantel T Chisango

The options issued to Mr Hosack are linked to achieving progress in the Arcadia Project and creating essential alignment with shareholders.

The number of options issued to Hosack is six million, with an exercising price of $0.26 ( being 150% of the 5-day Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) at the time the Board resolved to offer the Options), expiring 3 February 2025.

Furthermore, the company announced the appointment of Joint Company Secretaries Ian Goldberg and Lee Tamplin under Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Listing Rule 3.16.1, with immediate effect.

Mr Tamplin was also put in charge of communications between the Company and ASX for ASX Listing Rule 12.6.

Further to these appointments, Mr Andrew Whitten the Company Secretary of the will step down with immediate effect.

Incentive Options are a corporate benefit that gives an employee the right to buy shares of company stock at a discounted price with the added benefit of possible tax breaks on the profit.

About Prospect Resources Limited

Prospect Resources Limited (ASX: PSC, FRA:5E8) is an ASX listed lithium company based in Perth with operations in Zimbabwe. Prospect’s flagship project is the Arcadia Lithium Project located on the outskirts of Harare in Zimbabwe. The Arcadia Lithium Project represents a globally significant hard rock lithium resource and is being rapidly developed by

Prospect’s experienced team, focusing on near-term production of high purity petalite and spodumene concentrates.

Arcadia is one of the most advanced lithium projects globally, with a Definitive Feasibility Study, Offtake Partners secured and a clear pathway to production.

Battery grade lithium prices in China surge 68%

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Battery grade lithium prices in China surge 68%

Domestic Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate prices assessed by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence are on a tear in 2021 after bottoming out in the second half of last year, following a lengthy slump.

Ex-works lithium carbonate in China (≥99.5% Li2CO3) jumped by 68% to its highest since June 2019 in the first two months on the back of high battery demand, particularly for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode, and a slower-than-anticipated transition to high nickel chemistries, according to Benchmark.
Benchmark’s megafactory tracker points to the extent of the rise in demand reflected in China’s battery production figures, which totalled 12 GWh in January, an increase of nearly 320% compared to the same month last year when the country was in the first stages of the pandemic.

The surge was led by production of LFP batteries which is growing at a breakneck speed, up nearly 500% year- on-year.

THREE YEARS OF FALLING LITHIUM PRICES HAVE FAILED TO INCENTIVISE SUFFICIENT INVESTMENT INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN, LEADING TO GREATER RISKS OF PRICE VOLATILITY AS BATTERY DEMAND RAMPS UP

Surging Chinese lithium carbonate prices, which now hold a premium over hydroxide prices for the first time since April 2018, helped push the Benchmark Lithium Price Index up by 14.4% in February 2021, its second-largest move on record after January 2021, the London-headquartered research and price reporting agency said.

While the most rapid gains were in China, Benchmark’s global weighted average lithium hydroxide prices are up 8% year-to-date and ex-Chinese carbonate prices up by an average of 17.1% in February:

In fact, all 11 of Benchmark’s lithium prices registered increases in February 2021 as producers of both spodumene and lithium chemicals worldwide have begun to sell out inventories and fill order books through until the end of Q2 2021.

While lithium’s majors are beginning to reengage in expansion plans, three years of falling lithium prices have failed to incentivise sufficient investment into the supply chain, leading to greater risks of price volatility as battery demand ramps up.

Battery grade lithium prices in China surge 68%

Mining.com

In 2020, Ghana’s mines produced 140 metric tons of gold.

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In 2020, Ghana’s mines produced 140 metric tons of gold.

China, Australia, Russia, and the United States are some of the largest producers of gold in the world. Global production of gold reached approximately 3,200 metric tons in 2020. Production in China has increased from 320 metric tons in 2009 to an estimated 380 metric tons in 2020. However, large-scale gold production is minimal with only one mine exceeding 300,000 ounces of gold, the Zijinshan gold-copper mine in the Fujan Province. The production value of gold in the United States has increased from 4.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 to 9.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.

One of the largest gold companies in the world, AngloGold Ashanti, is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and was founded in 2004. It generated revenues of 4.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2016. It produced over 3.6 million ounces of gold in 2016, with over half of it being produced in Africa. Most gold mining is performed by large corporations around the world. However, there are smaller independent operations and in some cases, illegal mines have also been formed such as one in the Ashanti Region in Ghana where 18 people were killed in November 2009.

statista.com

Finance Minister to clear mining confusion

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Finance Minister to clear mining confusion

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, is expected to issue a “legal clarity” following the confusion created by an amendment to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act [Chapter 14:33] (IEE Act) that created an impression of a return of former President Mugabe’s policies.

As such, Mthuli is expected to address the matter in full and clear sticking issues when he presents his midterm budget review statement later in the year to reassure some investors.

The misconception, which led some quarters into concluding that Government was reneging on President Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra, came about when Government gazetted the Finance (No 2) Act, 2020 (section 36).

The amendment appeared to have caused a misconception among investors and stakeholders who thought that Government had brought back the 51 percent local ownership threshold for the mining sector.

The misconception has even persisted Mthuli issuing a statement earlier in the month clarifying Government position that the sector was open for investors regardless of their nationalities.

Mthuli even highlighted that Government will delete the insertion that caused the misconception in a bid to enhance certainty and consistent with Government policy.

This week Finance and Economic Development Deputy Minister, Clemence Chiduwa, said Mthuli was going to use the midterm budget review statement to legally address the matter.

Chiduwa’s clarification comes amid concerns from stakeholders who had thought that Government will issue a Statutory Instrument (SI) to effect the deletion promised Mthuli.

“The Honourable Minister (Mthuli Ncube) noted the misconception that was created by the amendment thus the reason of the press statement he issued earlier this month,” said Chiduwa.

“But the deletion which he alluded to is not going to be done through an SI, because whatever was said was coming from the Finance Act and you cannot amend the Finance Act via an SI, it can only be amended when we present the midterm review.

“But for emphasis’ sake please note that the 51 percent no longer applies to all the minerals that are currently being mined in the country.

“It’s a policy position that is in sync and is informed by His Excellency’s ‘Zimbabwe is open for Business’ mantra which seeks to foster investment in the sector,” said the Deputy Minister.

The mining sector and agriculture are the key cornerstones with which Government expects to foster investment and production for economic growth towards an upper middle income economy by 2030.

The mining sector has registered billions worthy of investment and the key lure to this has been the opening up of the sector under the “Zimbabwe is open for business”.

It is against this background that the President has to date set the sector a 2023 milestone through which mining sector exports are expected to jump from US$2, 7 billion achieved in 2017 to US$12 billion.

Business Weekly

Two Chinese firms eye Zisco

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Two Chinese firms eye Zisco

Two Chinese steel giants including state-owned Tisco have carried out preliminary due diligence on the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (zisco),  as the Government steps up efforts to revive once Africa’s largest integrated steelworks.

Four potential investors have also submitted expression of interests and are being examined by the board, two people familiar with the development said.

zisco stopped operations in 2008 due to lack of capital to recapitalise and poor management. With its furnaces having capacity to produce up to one million tonnes annually, the company was among Zimbabwe’s major foreign currency earners.

“zisco, which is owned by the Chinese government and Fan Fei, a private owned company have already done preliminary due diligence,” said one source who declined to be named because the matter is still private.

“We also have four other potential investors from Germany and Australia who have formally made their expression of interests and the board is carrying out due diligence on them.”

No official comment could be immediately obtained from Zisco by the time of going to print.

Another source said zisco would engage transaction advisors made up of specialists in project and corporate finance, financial modelling and deal structuring.

The financial advisors will be responsible for overall project management, including evaluation of the transaction, development of the business case, devising the market engagement strategy, including management of input from zisco’s other advisers.

Meanwhile, zisco is working on creating condition necessary to attract investment and these include production of audited accounts up to 2020, a market study, valuation of the business and bankable business feasibility studies for its subsidiaries, BIMCO and Lancashire Steel.

These are at different stages of completion and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce would review the reports at the end of this quarter.

zisco started operations in Bulawayo in 1938 having been formed by a private consortium.

In 1942, the Government formed the Rhodesia Iron and Steel Commission, a statutory body which took over the steel works.

In 1946, a small plant was constructed at Redcliff and commenced production in 1948.

Between 1948 and 1956, zisco gradually expanded and a year later, the Rhodesia Iron and Steel Company was formed followed by an expansion programme, which saw the commissioning of modern blast furnaces and installation of the first coke oven battery.

The expansion of the plant continued until 1975 when blast furnace 4 was commissioned, bringing steel works capacity to one million tonnes of liquid steel per year.

By early 1990’s operations at zisco started deteriorating while mining costs at Buchwa Mine sharply rose, forcing the company to develop Ripple Creek Mine for the supply of iron ore to the blast furnaces.

Blast Furnace 4 was reaching the end of its lifespan and was taken off in 1994.  A Chinese company was contracted to reconstruct and reline the furnace, which was recommissioned in 1999.

zisco is 91 percent owned by the Government.

The remaining 9 percent is held by Louth Minerals SA (3 percent), Tonexin Investments (2,8 percent), Stewarts and Lloyds (Overseas) (1,76 percent), Franconian Investments (0,81 percent), Amzim Limited (0,75 percent) and Zambia Copper Investment Limited (0,13 percent).

The Government in 2013 entered into an agreement with ESSAR of India to sell 60 percent shareholding but the deal collapsed in 2015.

The Government then signed another agreement with R & F Properties of China to sell its entire shareholding but again the deal collapsed in December 2019.

At the time zisco was in talks with R & F, the Government, under unclear circumstances, agreed to sell some of Zisco key assets to ZimCoke, a company fronted by Eddie Cross.

The deal collapsed last year after the board produced an adverse report on various aspects of the agreement.

 

Business Weekly

Expansion prospects excite Caledonia

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Expansion prospects excite Caledonia

New York Stock Exchange-listed concern, Caledonia Mining Corporation, has encountered impressive signals in gold exploration works that the miner is carrying out in the country.

The impressive initial results, come at a time when the miner is carrying out an elaborate expansion drive with which it is targeting to grow its local gold production output from just over 58 000 ounces per annum to 500 000 ounces (around 15,5 tonnes) by 2030.

Caledonia Mining Corporation is the parent company behind Blanket Mine in Gwanda and in October last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government which sought to grow the miner’s local footprint.

Caledonia Mining Corporation chief executive Mr Steve Curtis signed the MOU with Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando signing for the Government at a ceremony that was also attended by President Mnangagwa.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recently held 121 mining conference in Capetown, South Africa, Caledonia Mining Corporation Chief Financial Officer Mr Mark Learmonth told the Assay TV that the New York Stock exchange miner is encouraged by the geological analysis it has made so far.

“We must have evaluated two dozen projects in Zimbabwe,” said Mr Learmonth.

“The geological prospect is astounding. Some of the stuff really blows you off,” he said.

In an advertorial published in our sister paper, The Sunday Mail this week, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development said Caledonia Mining Corporation’s expansion plan as articulated in the MOU it signed with the Government, is one of the major projects expected to anchor the 2023 mining sector milestone.

Under the milestone, the Government is targeting to grow mining sector exports from US$2,7 attained in 2017 to an annual haul of at least US$12 billion from 2023 onwards.

Mr Learmonth told the Assay TV that Caledonia employs 1 640 locals and that it is happy with the arrangement that sees them getting both US dollars and the local currency for their gold deliveries.

“We sell our gold to the Government . . . then we get paid in a combination of US dollars and the local currency and we actually use that local component to pay for our local expenses . . . and the balance (USD) is more than adequate to cover the cost of material that we import around the mine and then to repatriate profits,” he said.

Word coming from Caledonia will be welcome to the Government which has set the mining sector
as one of the key pillars with which it seeks to foster rapid economic development towards upper
middle-income status by 2030 as set out by the President.

To achieve the required growth, the Government is targeting to expand already existing mining projects to maximum capacity utilisation as well as lure investment into new projects.

Business Weekly

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