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Mining operations should be environmentally friendly

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Mining operations should be environmentally friendly

The resource-rich Southern African country, Zimbabwe has managed to attract new mining sector investors and for several communities, their wish is to see the good investment climate contributing to economic recovery.

Several companies have shown interest to invest in the Southern African country with the platinum sector expected to contribute three billion mark according to the $12 billion mining industry road map presented by the President of the Republic, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Minerals such as gold will contribute $4 billion while diamond and chrome will contribute $1 billion each. This entails an increase in production by the mining companies in these sectors to meet the recommended contribution.

This increase overally means an upsurge in the rate of the impacts of mining on resource-rich communities. Therefore, it is imperative for mining investors to ensure that   mining communities are protected against human rights violations including protection of the ecosystem.

International standards on the other hand also encourage and promote corporate social responsibility. Standards such as the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) acknowledge the transformational changes that mining companies bring to the lives of host communities. IRMA highlights that it is possible to reduce the negative impacts of mining and uphold the positive impacts through conducting operations in an environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, economically beneficial and  ethical manner.

The IRMA is undergoing its first third party audit in Zimbabwe and Mexico. Anglo American Unki Mine located in Zimbabwe is currently undergoing an audit which started on the 29th of November and ran until the 6th of December 2019. The Scientific Certification Services (SCS) Global Services an IRMA approved certification body conducting the Audit sent out invitations for comments to be submitted before the audit process begins.

Unki Mine must be applauded for this noble move to undertake the audit. It is imperative to note that with Zimbabwe’s $12 billion mining strategy and Vision 2030 which are anchored at increasing mineral production to boast economic recovery, International standards like the IRMA and Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative if implemented can enhance development in the country. Unki’s move should be commended and this sets a good example for other investors   to follow suit.

Mining operations should be environmentally friendly according to ISO 14001 to earn a good corporate reputation.  Using initiatives such as Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox(SEAT), Anglo-American Unki Mine provides their mining operations with detailed guidance on how to manage social impacts and deliver socio-economic development.

On the 23rd of November 2019, 150 Tongogara community representatives  gathered for a community engagement meeting to understand the IRMA standard courtesy of the Zimbabwe Environmental law Association (ZELA) an organisation which seeks to promote environmental justice, sustainable and equitable use of natural resources, democracy and good governance in the natural resources and environment sector. The communities were drawn  from local development committees, traditional leadership, local leadership, District Administrator’s office and Parliament Portfolio Committee on Mines.

Benefits of IRMA to The Company

Improved corporate reputation

Better market access for products and responsible sourcing.

Company appearing on the Responsible Mining Map

Benefits of IRMA to Civil Society Organisations, labour unions and communities

Being part of the responsible mining dialogue

Improved profits for the company due to better market access which will increase fund on Corporate Social Responsibility development projects that will benefit the community and the country at large.

Fadzai Lydia Midzi Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association

Mining sector incentives to promote new investment

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Mining sector incentives to promote new investment

Tax incentives, which the government extended to the mining sector are meant to attract new  investment while ensuring maximum utilisation of the country’s mineral  resources to achieve a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023, a Cabinet  Minister has said.

Gold production of 100 tonnes and earnings of US$4 billion per annum as well as production growth across other high value minerals such as  platinum, diamonds, lithium and chrome, will anchor the attainment of the US$12 billion milestone.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said tax incentives that the mining sector enjoyed were not because it was being favoured.

In his 2020 National Budget, Prof Ncube announced a cocktail of new and extension of existing, duty free and tax rebates across many sectors to drive economic recovery.

Specifically for the mining sector, Prof Ncube allowed mining houses to bring in “tangibles and intangibles around computer software as tax-deductible items” and reviewed downwards the royalty on diamonds from 15  percent to 10 percent.

This was on top of other already existing tax incentives being applied to the mining sector.

“Chair, we are not being soft on the mining sector or favouring it. You know, we are trying to promote investment in the sector and incentivise  the sector. We are trying to grow our export earnings in the sector (so) really we do not want the tax to be an impediment towards that kind of  investment,” he told Parliament.

“We want to make sure that investment flows in. It is our desire that  we have an investment of US$500 million equivalent between now and the  year 2023 in the lithium sector for example. We believe that through these tax incentives in the form of a tax exemption is one way to  attract investment.”

Ncube said the government would not hesitate to pass on incentives  because this would in turn assist in creating jobs and drive foreign  currency earnings. “We have been very clear that the mining sector is a key sector and I  think that we all agree that Zimbabwe has so many minerals and we desire  to have those minerals exploited to the benefit of Zimbabweans but the  investors also want to earn a fair return and why not?,” he asked.

“That the mining sector is not paying enough taxes — again you know we  benefit a lot from foreign direct investment from the jobs that the  mining sector creates.  We benefit a lot from the exports and forex that  the mining sector generates. The mining sector is the largest generator  of foreign currency into Zimbabwe, showing we ought to recognise that  this is an important sector for driving our exports.”

The country’s mining representative body, Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe has since welcomed Government incentives to the sector.

Zimbabwe is facing an acute foreign currency challenge and many companies have been sourcing the money on the unofficial market, pushing the prices of other consumables northwards.

Some of the Fiscal incentives for the Mining sector according to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development website

Income Tax

Taxable Income of a Holder of Special Mining Lease

l A holder of a special mining lease, corporate income is taxed at a special rate of 15% instead of the general tax rate of 25%.

l However, holders of a Special Mining Lease are liable to Additional Profits Tax (APT). The tax is payable upon attaining a formula based level of profitability.

Exemption from Certain Taxes

l After consultation with the Minister responsible for the administration of the Mines and Minerals Act, the Minister of Finance may declare the holder of a Special Mining Lease to be an approved holder of a special mining lease for the purposes of exemption, wholly or partly, from the following taxes:

Non-Residents shareholders tax;

Non-Residents tax on Fees;

Non-Residents tax on Remittances;

Non-Residents tax on Royalties

Allowable Deductions/ Expenditure

Deductions on all capital expenditure on exploration, development, and operations incurred wholly and exclusively for any mining operations are allowed in full.

Expenditure incurred during a year of assessment on surveys, boreholes, trenches, pits and other prospecting and exploratory works undertaken for the purpose of acquiring rights to mine minerals in Zimbabwe or incurred on a mining location in Zimbabwe, together with any other expenditure that is incidental thereto.  The taxpayer may elect to have the expenditure allowed in the year of assessment in which it is incurred or carried forward and allowed against income from mining operations in any subsequent year of assessment.

Assessed Losses

There is no restriction on carry over of tax losses; these can be carried forward for an indefinite period.

Royalty on gold for small scale miners

In order to support this sector, Government levied a lower rate of royalty of 1% on small scale gold producers whose output does not exceed 0.5 kg per month.

Support for small scale miners

The capital-intensive nature of mining activities poses challenges to operations of many small-scale miners. This is notwithstanding that; small-scale mining activities employ many people in the country.

In order to encourage the participation of financial institutions in supporting small scale mining activity, Government has put in place tax incentives for financial institutions who accept geologically surveyed claims as collateral for small scale miners’ borrowing requirements

Customs duty

Rebate of duty on goods for the prospecting and search for mineral deposits-: Rebate of duty is granted on goods which are imported by a person who has entered into a contract with the Government for the prospecting and search for mineral deposits.

Rebate of duty on goods imported in terms of an agreement entered into pursuant to a special mining lease: Rebate of duty is granted on goods which the Secretary for Mines certifies as eligible for a rebate of duty in terms of an agreement in the special mining lease.

Suspension of duty on goods imported for specific mine development operations: Customs duty suspension is granted to a holder of a mining location importing specified goods during the project’s life cycle for mining development operations such as sinking shafts, installation of machinery, construction and erection of facilities for the production and conveyance of minerals.

Deferment of Value Added Tax: VAT deferment is granted to mining companies on capital equipment imported for a period of ninety days subject to the conditions set by ZIMRA Commissioner-General.

Rebate of duty on goods for use in petroleum exploration or production: Rebate of duty is granted to the grantee of a special grant issued under the Mines and Minerals Act authorizing the exploration or production of petroleum.—

Business Weekly/New Ziana

Palladium gains 60pc

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Palladium gains 60pc

This year has been good for commodities, with palladium leading the way with a gain of nearly 60 percent. The precious metal has continued to notch new highs, stealing the spotlight from cheese and milk prices.

Commodities’ performance in 2019 has been affected by distortions created by protectionist tariffs, moderation in the pace of global gross-domestic-product growth, higher geopolitical risk, and strong growth in some metal-consuming sectors, says Cailin Birch, global economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The S&P GSCI Total Return Index, which tracks 24 commodities and is heavily weighted in energy, was up about 17 percent so far this year to December, 18, while the Bloomberg Commodity Total Return Index, which tracks 22 commodity futures contracts, added 6,6 percent as of December 18.

“Global growth expectations were very low coming into 2019,” with commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, having been the “worst performing asset class over the past seven years,” says Chris Gaffney, president of World Markets at TIAA Bank. However, an overall improvement in global growth prospects helped the commodities rally this year, he says, pegging the sector’s performance as “good, but not great.” — Reuters.

Gold price forecast 2020

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Gold price forecast 2020

Gold looks set to end the year with double-digit gains and is likely to maintain its upward trajectory in 2020.

At press time, the yellow metal is trading at $1 477 per Oz, representing 15,25percent gains on a year-to-date basis. Anything above 13,2percent would be the biggest yearly gain since 2010 when prices had rallied by 29,6percent.

Trade war, recession fears, and dovish Fed pushed gold price higher in 2019

The year gone by will be remembered for the US-China trade war escalation, persistent recession fears and more importantly, for the US Federal Reserve’s remarkable dovish U-turn.

The Fed had raised rates by 25 basis points in December 2018 and pencilled in two rate hikes for 2019. However, the central bank reversed course in the first quarter and officially confirmed rate hike pause. The metal gained just 0,76 percent in the first quarter, as the rate hike pause was already priced in the last quarter of 2018, but picked up a strong bid and rose 9 percent in the April to June period with markets increasingly betting on rate cuts.

The Fed reduced borrowing costs by 25 basis points in July — the first rate cut since 2008 — and announced quarter-point reductions in September and October. As a result, gold eked out 4,48percent gains in the third quarter.

Apart from the Fed’s dovish turn, the metal also drew haven bids, courtesy of the US-China trade war and the resulting fears of recession in the world’s two biggest economies. — Reuters.

Tagwirei eyes State gold mines

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Tagwirei eyes State gold mines

Investment vehicles, reportedly linked to a prominent Harare businessman with interests in mining and oil, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, are angling to buy four gold mines owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.

Well-placed sources with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations, revealed the investor was targeting gold mines owned by the State through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

The assets comprise Jena Gold Mines, Golden Kopje, Elvington and Sabi. Some of the gold mines, chocked by debts have for years, been struggling while efforts to secure investors had been futile.

The Government is keen to see the mines fully operational in line with its thrust to achieve a US$12 billion industry by 2023.

Sources indicated that Landela Mining Venture, reportedly linked to Tagwirei, is one of the vehicles that have shown interests in buying and resuscitating the gold mines through fresh capital injection.

Landela recently acquired significant shareholding in Great Dyke Investments, a multimillion dollar platinum project in Darwerdnale, Mashonaland West Province, which it jointly owns with Afromet JSC of Russia.

Another vehicle Sotic, also linked to Tagwirei, snatched a 74 percent shareholding in the country’s largest nickel operation, Bindura Nickel Corporation recently.

Landela is also reported to be in the process of acquiring a stake in Zimbabwe Alloys, an integrated ferrochrome mining company

following the cancellation of US$90 million deal in which Indian firm Balasore, wanted to buy 70 percent stake in ZimAlloys.

However, contacted this week, Tagwirei said he is “neither a director nor a shareholder of Landela Mining”, without disclosing more detail.

But highly placed source that cannot be named for professional reasons said; “He is a cash rich investor who in the recent past has been buying some mining assets; platinum, nickel and chrome and now eyes gold assets. You cannot really doubt the capacity given his financial muscle.” Another source said the investor and the Government “have in principle agreed” and negotiations are already underway.

“It is an issue that is now under discussion. The Government wants to see things moving especially the resuscitation of the closed mines…it is hoped negotiations would be concluded soon,” said the source.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Onesimo Moyo, confirmed to Business Weekly that negotiations were underway for disposal of the said mines.

“We haven’t singed yet…but we are currently in discussions with an investor who wants to capitalise all (our) gold assets and we hope discussions will be finalised soon,” he said.

“The recapitalisation of the mines will also put the country on course to meet the US$12 billion mining (industry) by 2023. In October, Zimbabwe unveiled a strategic roadmap to propel the country’s mining sector to US$12 billion industry by 2023”.

Already, the mining sector is the largest foreign currency earner, accounting for 70 percent of export receipts. 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 about US$500 million while other minerals will contribute US$1,5 billion.

Sabi Mine in Zvishavane’s claims were first pegged in the 1890 with the first recorded production in 1909. It was acquired by ZMDC in 1984 which owns 100 percent.

The mine used to employ about 450 employees. Jena Mines, also 100 percent owned by ZMDC was acquired in 1984. It employed about 600 people and operated a multi-shaft system. Elvington Gold Mine suspended operations in 2003 due to the collapse of one of its main shafts and was placed on care and maintenance.

At some point, the mines were involved in dump retreatment in preparation for resuscitation of underground operations. Elvington used to produce 45kgs of gold per month.

The Government acquired Golden Kopje in 2007 from the late businessman McDonald Chapfika.

Business Weekly

Chiwenga warns MaShurugwi

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Chiwenga warns MaShurugwi

Zimbabwe Deputy-President Constantino Chiwenga has warned machete-wielding artisanal miners who are terrorising communities and other miners that they will face the full wrath of the law.

Addressing a handful of people at the International Day of Co-operatives in Bindura yesterday, the Vice-President said he was back and healthy and would ensure that machete-wielding illegal miners were brought to book.

“I would like to thank you all for praying for me during my sickness. Let me assure you that I am back and very much healthy,” Chiwenga said.

“As government, we are saying no to machete-wielding miners, hatidi mabhemba (we don’t want machetes)! Let me repeat, no to machete-wielding miners. The law will descend heavily on (the rogue) artisanal miners. We cannot afford to have illegal miners wreaking havoc in the country,” Chiwenga said.

He urged illegal miners to join co-operatives and regularise their operations in a bid to develop the nation.

“The government recognises the existence of artisanal miners and we are urging them to join co-operatives so that the country moves forward in the mining sector,” Chiwenga added.

The VP also told the gathering that hunger is stalking the nation due to a poor harvest and Mashonaland Central province, formerly the bread basket of the country, has not been spared.

“I was briefed by the Minister of State for Mashonaland Central (Monica Mavhunga) that hunger has tormented the province. Yes, we know hunger is there and as the government, we have formed a committee being spearheaded by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sibusiso Moyo, Minister of Agriculture, Perrance Shiri and Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube, who are busy sourcing for food aid and weekly, the country is receiving food,” he said.

“Let me also assure you that no one will starve under the new dispensation. The government is working flat out to see to it that everyone is fed.”

Chiwenga also said: “We were also told that many schools in Mt Darwin, Muzarabani and Mbire are like fowl runs and should be prioritised because education is key, that is where our future leaders are learning. The government has taken note of that.”

NEWSDAY

Zim Gold: Resource Curse Or Bad Policy?

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Zim Gold: Resource Curse Or Bad Policy?

When the European settlers in Zimbabwe dreamt of Eldorado (overflowing gold) in the 1890s, not many were disappointed. Now more than a century after the settlers arrived, the yellow metal remains one of the pillars of economic transformation, albeit at a slow pace.

Despite being endowed with more than 40 base minerals, Zimbabwe continues to be classified as a poor country and questions have been asked on whether or not the country has the right policy to add a sparkle to the capital-intensive extractive sector.

Since time immemorial, issues around gold mining such as looting, the criminalisation of artisanal mining, under-declaration, and smuggling have been topical. Given tonnes of gold that are produced and smuggled into other countries, it tells a lot about the amount of gold that the country has.

Experts say tonnes of gold were produced annually since 2010 with less than 30 tonnes sold through the sole buyer of gold, Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR), with the rest being smuggled into other countries.

From that tonnage, Zimbabwe was supposed to earn over US$3.2bn yearly from gold against the current earnings of US$1.6bn. Economic analysts suggest that if well managed, gold will be able to transform the country’s fortunes to become a stable economy.

The monetary authorities and various government officials know about the gold smuggling cartels, but do not act upon that information because they are closely linked to them or they are their bosses.

It is believed that there are various cartels which are led by Russians, Indians and locals, who serve ministers and former cabinet ministers. This is not helping the ordinary Zimbabwean as the cost of living has skyrocketed to over ZWL$4,200 a month for the majority of the formally employed populace, who incidentally are earning less than ZWL$2,000 a month.

Henrietta Rushwaya, the president of the Zimbabwe Mining Federation, has said at various forums that gold production has gone up significantly but formal gold deliveries are going down due to unfavourable mining polices. According to her, formal gold deliveries will continue going down unless there is a quick change in policies, such as the forex retention issue which currently stands at 55%, down from 70% last year.

This has caused outrage among gold players.

It is not surprising that gold deliveries dipped 23% to 23.03 tonnes during the first 10 months of 2019, from 30.13 tonnes last year. It has been over a month now since miners requested for a meeting with the RBZ on the retention level issue, but the meeting has so far failed to materialise.

This means gold deliveries and export earnings will end on a low note given the monetary authorities’ reluctance to deal with the matter.

“We have been trying to reach out to the miners to discuss various issues affecting the gold sector with forex retention being one of the key issues but unfortunately I have been busy with the IMF and various businesses outside the country,” said the RBZ governor John Mangudya.

“We will still meet and discuss the issues as was before.”

From the body language and expressions, the central bank chief seems to be waiting for the signal from his bosses to change the forex retention level. The government offered to raise it to 60% in November during the ZMF annual general meeting in Gweru, but the miners rejected it outright.

Instead they want 80%, a figure Mangudya says is not viable given the lack of forex in the country. According to him, earnings from gold will help to procure fuel, medicine, grain and fertiliser among other critical raw materials.

The development comes at a time when the country is experiencing rampant inflation, subdued production across most sectors, crippling power outages, and serious shortages in many areas, leaving Zimbabwe on the edge of total economic implosion.

Gold contributes 38% of the country’s total earnings and more than 60% of the mining sector’s revenue. Tobacco which was a dominant force before last year, has had its problems as exports have gone down due to the forex retention level, poor payment methods, and surplus tobacco in China (which is Zimbabwean tobacco’s biggest buyer).

Analysts believe that 2020 will be a very difficult year given the poor performances from the two most important economic drivers. The economist Persistence Gwanyanya said: “There is the need for the country to diversify its economy so that it can have multiple export earnings’ platforms.

Over-reliance on the homogeneous factors is not good as world commodity prices are prone to shakeups time and again.”

As tobacco is no longer earning as much as it used to do, analysts say more needs to be done to improve gold production. It takes less than a week to process gold sales into hard cash, while other minerals like platinum take close to a month to liquidate.

Surprisingly, the authorities have turned a blind eye to such critical issues.

Even Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube believes that close to 34 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of the country in the first 10 months of 2019 and nothing concrete was done to stop it.

Meanwhile, Irvine Chinyenze, the chief executive of the Gold Miners Association of Zimbabwe, has said the fact that the authorities maintain the forex retention levels means there is some kind of war going on.

“Gold is one issue that the authorities should have dealt with a long time ago, but the maintenance of the 55% tells a lot about the struggles going on behind the scenes with gold being the battlefield,” Chinyeze said.

Some miners, especially large-scale, are believed to be selling their gold to suspected smugglers to get more forex for their operations. Zimbabwe is targeting 100 tonnes of gold per year by 2023, a figure which is expected to help the sector to earn US$12bn yearly.

Analysts believe that gold can earn over US$4bn before 2023 if the authorities are quick to resolve the current problems_Business Times

Zim’s US$12bn Mining Industry Fallacy

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Zim’s US$12bn Mining Industry Fallacy

Zimbabwe’s target to hit US$12bn a year from mining revenues, starting 2023, appears a mere pipe dream if the sectors’ performance this year is anything to go by. In the absence of a miracle which turns around the extractive industry’s fortunes, not much hope can be invested in the US$12bn goal.

While official statistics of revenue earnings have been kept under wraps in the past month, indications are that the extractive industry has raked in over US$2bn in the first 10 months of the year, led by gold which last year accounted for 65% of the sector’s earnings.

The US$2bn, which could amount to US$3bn at the end of the year, is a paltry 25% of the US$12bn. This gives Zimbabwe two years to quadruple annual mining revenues. The US$12bn target is anchored on gold and chrome, with an ambitious plan to grow gold production from the 33 tonnes last year to 100 tonnes.

This comes as the sector suffers immensely from leakages as producers sell the yellow metal in neighbouring South Africa for cash given that the government’s sole gold buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners, is paying 55% hard cash and the balance in local dollars.

This is prompting smuggling, with some foreign buyers said to be setting up their base locally to mop up the gold. As of October, gold production stood at 24.5kg, which is 10 000kg below the 35 tonnes target for this year. Last year deliveries closed at 33.28 tonnes, a figure which failed to meet the revised 2018 target of 34 tonnes.

Last year, gold contributed over 65% of the country’s mineral export earnings leaving the mineral as the highest forex earner ahead of tobacco. Chrome also stood at 1.35kmt against an annual target of 1.9kmt this year.

Meanwhile, chrome ore production is certain to miss the annual 1.9kmt target in 2019 as production stood at 1.35mt at the end of October, as low commodity prices on the global market, foreign currency shortages and massive power cuts threaten contribution of the extractive sector to the economy.

Zimbabwe’s chrome miners could be losing up to US$70 per tonne in potential chrome due to huge disparities between domestic and export pricing of the mineral as cartels cash in on the distortions, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has said.

Predatory buying is rampant across the mineral-rich Great Dyke, leaving producers at the mercy of buying cartels who are taking advantage of infrastructure and marketing challenges besetting the economy, ZMF has said.

Zimbabwe accounts for 12% of the world’s chrome ore deposits; only second to South Africa, but the value is far greater than 12%. The chrome reserves have only been exploited to the extent of 5%. The country plans to more than double chrome ore and high carbon ferrochrome production between now and 2022 to 3.1kmt and 950mt respectively.

Diamond production was 1,755,538 carats for the 10 months, below 2.2m carats that had been produced by August 2018. A mega deal that will bring Alrosa and other partners on board in the country’s diamond mining is yet to bear fruit. Other major deals in platinum and gold are also at formative stages_Business Times

$255m ZimCoke deal still on: Govt u-turns

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$255m ZimCoke deal still on: Govt u-turns

GOVERNMENT has said that the $255 million ZimCoke deal is still on as it has not yet received any formal communication from the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) board requesting for the termination of the agreement.

Contrary to recent media reports, which claimed the deal between the defunct steel giant and ZimCoke has been cancelled, Industry and Commerce Permanent Secretary, Dr Mavis Sibanda, said as far as Government is concerned the Zimcoke deal was well on course. Under the deal ZimCoke is set to take over the Ziscosteel coke ovens. “I just heard about it, I have not yet read about it, I think there are some overzealous people who are behind that. From our end as Government we are yet to get any report of that nature,” said Dr Sibanda in an interview.

“I cannot comment on things that we are yet to receive any formal report on. We can only comment on issues that would have come to us through formal channels.

“Everything we do is for national interest not for individual glory, people should focus on national development and stop spreading falsehoods.” 

ZimCoke board member and chief advisor, Eddie Cross, also maintained that the deal was still on. “I contacted the ministry and they said they we not aware of such a development. We are on and I don’t know who is behind this. We are also yet to receive any formal communication to that effect and as far as we are concerned the deal is on,” said Mr Cross.

 Ziscosteel board chair Dr Gift Mugano maintained that they had written to Government requesting that the deal be cancelled.

“As you know, this is a long procedure that will require the request to be looked at by the ministry before it is tabled before the Cabinet for approval. But as it stands, we have requested for the deal to be terminated,” said Dr Mugano.

He could not be drawn into commenting further into the contents of the written communication saying it would be premature to do so. 

Meanwhile, ZimCoke is moving ahead with preparations to take over the coke ovens with prospects that they will start production early 2020. The company has set structures and has since appointed a new nine-member board as well as a chief executive officer.

More members are expected to be crafted into the board early next year. The board will be chaired by Mr Nick Ncube while Dereck Scott who also sits on the board, has been appointed chief executive officer of the coke making firm. Other members of the board include Philemon Nhachi, Mrs Emma Fundira, Eddie Cross, Michael Moore, Ms Lillian Mbaiwa, Gerald Mlotshwa and Valentine Mushayakarara. In a statement, the company said the board is expected to oversee the rehabilitation of the plant before the commencement of production.

“ZimCoke, the recently formed company responsible for production of coke and related products in Zimbabwe, has announced the establishment of board of directors. The board is tasked to represent prominent Zimbabweans and also include the depth and breadth of expertise necessary to help guide and advise the company as it conducts operations necessary to bring back into production the 160 coke ovens that formerly comprised the Ziscosteel Coke division,” read part of the statement.

 

The Chronicle

Palladium on the verge

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Palladium on the verge

Palladium prices are within a whisker of breaking above $2 000 an ounce for the first time, with a gaping supply deficit fuelling a remarkable run that has seen the autocatalyst metal more than quadruple in value since 2016.

Once the cheapest of the major precious metals, palladium, used chiefly in engine exhausts to reduce harmful emissions, is now more than twice as expensive as platinum and $500 an ounce more than gold.

Prices have surged almost 60percent this year, reaching $1,998.43 an ounce on Tuesday, before slipping back to around $1,950. In January 2016, an ounce cost as little as $449.55. Prices may pull back briefly, but auto makers have pushed prices higher again and again this year,” — Bloomberg.

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