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UK ban on fossil fuel vehicles a golden opportunity for Zimbabwe

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UK ban on fossil fuel vehicles a golden opportunity for Zimbabwe

The proposal by the United Kingdom (UK) to ban the use of fossil fuel vehicles by 2030 are likely to place Zimbabwe at the forefront of the lithium mining industry, given that it is one of the world’s largest producers.

By Shantel Chisango

On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Borris Johnson declared that his government would speed up the introduction of Electric Vehicles (EVs) from the then announced date 2040 earlier to 2030.

In reality, the implementation of this plan would do Zimbabwe wonders as a nation because it is one of the world’s largest producer of lithium.

Mirrorplex co-founding Managing Director Nyasha Chido, speaking to Mining Zimbabwe, said the UK’s proposals to ban the use of petrol and diesel cars would put this country on the map like never before.

“There are zero implications, it is actually good for Zimbabwe as a country as this will put us on the map, “said Chido.

Chido also added that Zimbabwe is rich in the minerals needed for the development of batteries for electric cars.

“Zimbabwe has almost all the battery minerals that the car manufactures would need to make batteries suitable for the cars,” he added.

Chido argued that the Zimbabwe lithium mining sector will be placed at the forefront of mining worldwide, expressing his support for UK efforts to go green in an attempt to combat climate change.

“My thoughts are if the UK is promoting the plug-in hybrids that means no lithium producing country is opposed to going green anymore. That’s a big deal lithium and all battery metals are now the way to go,” stated Chido.

The ban on the use of petrol and diesel in vehicles whose batteries are mainly manufactured from minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and magnesium that are abundant in Zimbabwe is also a chance for Zimbabwe to seriously consider beneficiation.

Prospect Resources Human Resources Manager Mr. Tinago, in support of the UK’s plans, said that Zimbabwe can increase production in these minerals and also benefit from them by producing chemicals and carbonates for use in the batteries of EVs or by producing the actual batteries of EVs themselves.

“This is an opportunity for Zimbabwe to boost production in these minerals and even beneficiate these minerals through producing chemicals and carbonates for use in the EVs batteries or produce the actual EVs batteries themselves,” said Mr. Tinago.

According to the United States (US) Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020, Zimbabwe stands in the top five of the world’s biggest producer of lithium.

The survey further stated that due to the use of rechargeable lithium batteries in the rising demand for portable electronic devices, as well as in electrical tools, electric vehicles, and grid storage applications, the consumption of lithium for batteries has increased significantly in recent years.

Fidelity official gold buying prices Thursday 19 November 2020

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Fidelity official gold buying prices Thursday 19 November 2020

Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) official gold buying prices Thursday 19 November 2020

SG 90% AND ABOVE $53.98/g
SG ABOVE 85% BUT BELOW 90% $53.07/g
SG ABOVE 80% BUT BELOW 85% $51.87/g
SG ABOVE 75% BUT BELOW 80% $51.27/g
SAMPLE BELOW 10g BUT ABOVE 5g $52.47/g
FIRE ASSAY CASH $54.28/g
EXCHANGE RATE 81.7102

 

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

WATCH: How ASM communicate with miners underground

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WATCH: How ASM communicate with miners underground

Ever wondered how Artisanal Small-scale Miners communicate with the people who will be underground? The video below shows how some miners do it.

 

Golden timing of Padenga

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Golden timing of Padenga

Last year saw a local crocodile skin and meat business investing in a gold mine which attracted a lot of side-eyes. But the investment in Dallaglio Investments (Pvt) Ltd by Padenga Holdings now looks like a case of good timing.

Eureka Mine’s new owner, Dallaglio, invested US$23 million in rehabilitating its plant. Before reopening the mine next year, the company expects to invest an additional US$26 million. The Guruve mine, which was previously operated by Delta Gold, has been closed for nearly 20 years.

A big gain for Padenga will be the resumption of mining, which stunned the market when it bought 50.1 percent of Dallaglio last year.

The investment was part of a plan to diversify crocodile skins away from its main market. The business was keen to transition into a new company with 79 percent of Padenga’s 2018 revenues accounted for by only one European luxury goods brand.

The move to gold drew some cynicism on the market, but the latest trading update from the company indicates that Padenga might have timed its play well.

Dallaglio is planning to spend an estimated US$26 million to return the mine to production.

A total of US$15,189,745 was spent on this project in the nine months to September 2020. This is in addition to the US$7,886,026 invested in 2019, taking the overall expense of the project to US$23,075,771 to date.

Until commissioning, another US$26,300,658 is budgeted to be spent on this initiative, says Padenga in a trading update.

The reconstruction of the Eureka Mine is expected to be finished by mid-2021.

The restoration of the Eureka Mine is expected to be completed by mid-2021 and will dramatically increase the group’s gold production volumes and profits.

The steady gold prices on the world market would raise both the sales and profits of the Dallaglio mining company.
Eureka’s previous owners, Vast Wealth, had announced before selling the mine that the open-pit mine had been entirely flooded. It would have to be dewatered, after which it was necessary to conduct grade control drilling was to be undertaken.

At Pickstone, this year’s gold output would be higher than last year, the firm says.

Though Pickstone’s latest profit figures are not yet available, Pickstone posted US$26.7 million in 2018 in revenue and US$2.7 million in net profit.

Newswire

Fidelity official gold buying prices Wednesday 18 November 2020

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Fidelity official gold buying prices Wednesday 18 November 2020

Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) official gold buying prices Wednesday 18 November 2020

SG 90% AND ABOVE $54.35/g
SG ABOVE 85% BUT BELOW 90% $53.44/g
SG ABOVE 80% BUT BELOW 85% $52.23/g
SG ABOVE 75% BUT BELOW 80% $51.62/g
SAMPLE BELOW 10g BUT ABOVE 5g $52.83/g
FIRE ASSAY CASH $54.66/g
EXCHANGE RATE 81.7102

 

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

RBZ, Fidelity move to settle RioZim debt

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RBZ, Fidelity move to settle RioZim debt

RioZim Limited has removed the cautionary statements it released in June and July stating the consequences of overdue gold payments, arguing that the commitment of the central bank was fruitful.

By Shantel Chisango

In a statement, RioZim informed its shareholders that their efforts to make Reserve Bank Zimbabwe (RBZ) and Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) partly clear their outstanding debts to them were successful, resulting in the company resuming normal production.

“The company would like to advise its valued shareholders that engagements with the RBZ and FPR have been fruitful,” said RioZim in the statement.

The company claimed in a move to clear the debts that RBZ and FPR were making partial payments to minimize the enormous amount of debt and agreed to make future payments on time.

“RBZ and Fidelity have been making part payments to the company with a view to clearing outstanding amounts and have assured the company of timely payments for gold deliveries going forward,” stated RioZim.

RioZim told its shareholders that it was going to take a positive turn for business.

In a statement published June and July of this year, RioZim stated that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) owed it US$2.4 million while Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) owed it US$ 65.5 million which resulted in the slacking of the business.

Meanwhile, RioZim announced that payment delays for FPR’s gold deliveries had remained constant while the payments were irregular.

RioZim is incorporated and has subsidiaries such as RioGold, RioBase Metals, RioChrome, RioDiamonds, and RioEnergy, and is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

The Renco Gold mine in southeast Zimbabwe, the Cam & Motor gold mine in Kadoma, the Maranatha ferrochrome refinery in Kadoma and the Empress Nickel Refinery in Central Zimbabwe, near the city of Kadoma, is currently run by RioZim.

The corporation also owns 50 percent of Sengwa Colliery Private Limited in Gokwe Northern.

Shamva gold mine re-opens for business

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Shamva gold mine re-opens for business

Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Winston Chitando today presided over a ceremony marking the reopening of the Shamva Gold Mine, which had been shut down due to various operational challenges.

The mine was closed in January of last year and resumed operations in May of this year, and was re-opened for business today, according to twitter’s Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting.

Shamva Gold Mine is the largest gold producer in the country which produces an estimated 400kgs of gold bullion per month, which translates into 4.8 tons of gold per year.

The mine currently employs 800 employees with more staff to be employed as production rises.

Shamva Gold Mine reopened after Landela Mining Venture acquired and injected fresh capital into the business, previously owned by Metallon Corporation.

Metallon suspended operations at three of its mines including Shamva and Mazowe last year due to mounting debts estimated at US$200 million.

 

RioZim wins against the Army

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RioZim wins against the Army

RioZim Limited yesterday was victorious in its conflict with the military and a business owned by Pakistani nationals Falcon Resources after the miner was awarded back its chrome mining claims in Darwendale, Mashonaland West.

By Shantel Chisango

The dispute arose in August 2018 when Oppah Muchinguri, Minister of Defense and War Veterans Affairs, presented RIOZIM’s mining claims to Falcon Resources claiming that it was a territory of the cantonment.

The two went to the High Court, where Justice Happias Zhou ruled in favour of the military.

Through its counsel, Thabhani Mpofu, RioZim also appealed to the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Tendai Luke Mabala, along with Justices Tendai Uchena and George Chiweshe. The highest court of the land gave a victory judgment yesterday overthrowing the High Court’s decision.

“The unanimous view of the court is that the judgment of the High Court is clearly wrong, accordingly, the appeal succeeds and the judgment is set aside with costs and in its place substituted the following provisional order is confirmed, full reasons for the judgment will be availed in due course, “said Justice Mbala.

The army, led by Lewis Uriri, proclaimed the region a cantonment according to RioZim, and later gave it to a company that had vigorously mined chrome.

RioZim Limited Chief Geologist Patrick Takaedza said in his founding affidavit that his company was the holder of 260 mining claims, some of which were partly on Darwendale South Eclipse, New Burnside, and Darwendale B Farms, but were taken over by the military under the guise that it was a cantonment area.

Takaedza further claimed that Muchinguri’s decision, in her official capacity, to issue a notice stating that the cantonment area in the question was unlawful and in violation of the law.

Furthermore, Takaedza opined that Muchinguri, acting under section 89 of the Defence Act, published on 3 August 2018 a notice citing the Defense (Cantonments) Notice 2018 (No 51) stating that for the purposes of Part IX of the Act, the region mentioned in the schedule is a cantonment.

Falcon Resources wrote to RioZim in February 2018 asking for a tribute of chrome ore claims, but Rio did not respond. In May 2018, Takaedza said it was reported that mining operations were in progress on the said claims and it was discovered that Falcon Resources and Rusununguko Nkululeko (Pvt) Ltd were on the site.

In addition, Takaedza said investigations revealed that Falcon Resources (Pvt) Ltd had two directors who were the sole shareholders, Mohammed Tariq Aziz, a Pakistani national, and Aneeqa Zubair, a Dutch national, both believed to be former Pakistani military officers who were attached to or seconded to the Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) between 1980 and 2000.

Prospect to build a floatation pilot plant at arcadia mine

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Prospect to build a floatation pilot plant at arcadia mine

Prospect Resources Limited announcement on Friday of its plans to build a floatation pilot plant at Arcadia Mine near Harare to process bulk samples for its lithium markets globally, demonstrates more than just the progress the project is making.

The lithium company is listed on the Australia stock exchange and is based in Perth but with operations in Zimbabwe. Prospect’s flagship project is the Arcadia Lithium Project located on the outskirts of Harare.

Other than providing solid demonstration of how far the Greenfield lithium project has come, the Arcadia project, it reflects part of progress in the lithium sector towards the Government’s grand scheme of building a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023.

The Government launched the US$12 mining industry target by 2023 in October 2019 as part of the new administration’s broader macroeconomic roadmap towards an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030 with per capita income above US$4 300.

In any case, milestones achieved by key mining initiatives such as Prospect’s Arcadia project represent a huge leap forward in the country’s quest to optimise returns and benefits from mining, which generates over 60 percent of annual exports.

And Arcadia is one among several mega projects in platinum, gold, chrome, diamonds, coal and nickel, to name but a few, which are taking shape in the mineral rich southern African country and primed to ignite a palpably imminent economic boom and turnaround for Zimbabwe.

Lithium mining, including Prospect’s Arcadia project that is expected to create over 700 jobs in the first phase, will promote significant foreign capital flow into Zimbabwe, as global demand for both chemical (electric car battery) and technical grade lithium (glass and ceramics production) grows.

Prospect said it will commence construction of the flotation pilot plant to produce high purity petalite and spodumene, with long lead equipment items now secured. This plant will replicate Arcadia’s capacity at a large scale to supply global markets.

The high purity flotation pilot plant will de-risk the flotation process by operating the optimised flow sheet, supply bulk samples of high purity products to customers in the technical and chemical markets, to obtain product qualification and maximise market demand for Arcadia’s products;

Further, the pilot plant will supply samples to Uranium One Group, off-taker and prospective investor, for their own product validation purposes and continuing due diligence on Prospect and the Arcadia Lithium Mine, as well as enhance all technical elements of the project execution phase.

The plant will initially produce bulk samples of 500 tonnes of petalite and 120 tonnes of spodumene concentrates for qualification by the customer, large producers in Europe and Asia.

Processing technology will demonstrate Prospect’s ability to produce high-purity products at planned volumes and samples to be sent to current and potential off-take partners in the first half of 2021.

Prospect Resources said it had already secured long lead equipment items and was now commencing the pilot plant project at the company’s Arcadia Lithium Mine, near Harare, to produce high-purity petalite and spodumene samples.

Prospect’s managing director Sam Hosack said: “Our current key focus is to operate a pilot plant to replicate the Arcadia flow sheet to produce high purity petalite and spodumene.

“The (Arcadia) pilot plant delivers a number of key objectives for customers, project finance parties and investors in de-risking the Arcadia project. It is a major milestone that we have secured the long-lead purchases.”

The design of the pilot plant is based on flotation test work done by Anzaplan and scaled up to a pilot plant size by the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM) using proven flotation technology solutions.

Anzaplan is a European consultancy and engineering firm well equipped to develop flow sheet and process design following different processing routes for lithium-bearing minerals such as spodumene, petalite, lepidolite, lithium-rich clays

The implementation schedule meets the criteria of first production of on-spec product in the first half of 2021. Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) will be undertaken using information gathered from the pilot plant.

This will determine the phasing, scale of growth and nominal capacity of the Arcadia project. The strategy for the phasing of development will be clarified with the capital expenditure (estimates from the FEED.

This represents one of many progress milestones that Prospect Resources has already posted in its quest to build the largest lithium mine in Zimbabwe and Africa.

Notably, this also demonstrates significant progress in the platinum dimension of the $12 billion industry target, where Prospect’s Arcadia is expected to be a significant contributor.

The US$12 billion mining industry represents a 344 percent increase from the US$2,7 billion exported in 2017. The multi-billion-dollar industry will be driven by gold, platinum, diamond, chrome, iron ore, coal, lithium, and other minerals.

Under the US$12 billion mining roadmap, gold is expected to contribute US$4 billion, platinum US$3 billion while chrome, iron, steel diamonds and coal will contribute US$1 billion.

Lithium is expected to contribute US$500 million while other minerals will contribute US$1,5 billion. Despite currently having a single producing lithium mine, Bikita Minerals, Zimbabwe is the world’s fifth largest producer and exporter of lithium.

NO to irresponsible mining

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NO to irresponsible mining

The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) has denounced irresponsible mining and lamented that such practices are placing human and animal lives at risk, creating irreparable damage to the environment.

By Shantel Chisango

ZELA shunned the practice of illegal mining on its Twitter page and encouraged responsible mining that complies with the law and protects the environment.

“Miners need to exercise environmental vigilance, which applies to the concerns of reckless investors. We say NO to the irreparable damage to our environment,” ZELA said.

Referring to Mazowe, where illegal mining has damaged the once majestic river, ZELA expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the river and encouraged governments to ensure that whenever contracts are entered into, it clearly outlined what the country demands of the investor.

“We’re in Mazowe, checking out what our river has become.”

Mazoe 2
Before (photo credit ZELA)
After (photo credit ZELA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For decades, illicit mining has been ravaging the country and is not only riskier from a safety perspective, but it promotes risky conduct and leads to results that have long-term negative consequences.

With illegal mining, there is typically an absence of property rights, mining licenses, exploration or mineral transport permits, according to America’s Quarterly.

Without these licenses, there are no independent authorities to regulate mining operations and all the high-risk activities that come with them.

To minimize the possibility of damaging the environment and its people, the government needs to ensure that illegal mining is avoided by providing mining licenses to legalize all who practice illegal mining curbing the spur in illegal mining cases. Currently, formalisation is happening at a ridiculous pace with Mashonalandwest a mineral-rich province with an area of 57,441 km² being serviced by only two vehicles.

Zimbabwe seems reluctant to introduce sanitation to the artisanal small-scale mining sector, which makes a major contribution to gold production each year.

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