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Zimbabwe mineral potential

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Zimbabwe has a huge and highly diversified mineral resource base dominated by two prominent geological features namely the famous Great Dyke and the ancient Greenstone Belts, also known as Gold Belts.

The Great Dyke is a layered igneous complex extending north-south for about 550 km. The Great Dyke plays host to the world’s largest high grade chromite resource base.  Zimbabwe has the world’s second largest resource of platinum group of metals as well as significant reserves of copper and nickel.

Download the MINERAL POTENTIAL BROCHURE from Ministry of Mines

or download from mining zim server

Procedures and requirements of acquiring Mining title in Zimbabwe

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What is a mining title?

A Mining Title is a mining grant under laws and mining regulations to a person or group of approved persons of the right to develop and exploit a properly delineated area for its mineral wealth.

In Zimbabwe, Mining Titles are issued by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. Applications are submitted at eight provincial offices across the country.

How to get a mining title in Zimbabwe

The following are the procedures and requirements of acquiring a Mining title in Zimbabwe

  • The Agent is required to physically peg the area by marking the deposit with a discovery peg. She should also post Prospecting, Discovery, and Registration notices on the ground. The notices must be posted in a conspicuous manner to alert other prospectors.
  • Before posting these notices the agent is required to inform or seek consent from the landowner of his intention to prospect. Note consent is only sought from the landowner if prospecting on a farm less than 100 hectares, otherwise, the prospector is only required to inform the farm/landowner in writing either by registered mail or by hand delivery.
  • All areas classified as not open to prospecting and pegging or reserved against prospecting and pegging cannot be pegged eg. cultivated land /arable lands, dip tanks, dams.
  • Each prospecting license can peg up to a maximum of 10 claims of 1 hectare each.
  • An application for registration must be submitted to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development offices. The application must have copies of the following attachments:-

1. Prospecting license

2. Prospecting Notice

3. Discovery Notice (Base Minerals)

4. Notification of intention to prospect to the landowner

5. A map in triplicate to the scale of 1: 25 000

  • If the Provincial Mining Director is satisfied that all pegging procedures have been followed he shall issue a certificate of registration upon payment of the gazetted fee. This allows the holder to start mining operations subject to meeting other obligations like Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
  • Within 3 months from the date of registration, the miner is required to obtain a renewal of title. Claims have a 12-month tenure after which they shall expire or be renewed.
  • Failure to renew the title will result in the forfeiture of a mining claim. Furthermore, loss of a title can be through cancellation or abandonment.
Winston Chitando
Mining titles are issued by the Mines and Mining Development Ministry

Can Zimasset be revived?

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Can Zimasset be revived?

Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation (Zimasset) blue print was crafted to create hope in the recovery of Zimbabwe’s economy from the jaws of economic colonisation; it aimed at improving the lives of the common people through foreign direct investment and sustaining local miners by protecting them and giving them support through different government initiatives. However, the blue print was deemed not fair on certain parts on which Zimbabwean where lamenting that it needed to be stripped off.

Dickson Rudairo Mapuranga

Mining experts are of the view that, to attract foreign and local investment in the mining industry, Zimasset needs to be fully implemented so that citizens will gain from the riches of their land. However, the government needs to review its tax laws and review tariffs, for example electricity costs are too high. Also many laws are inconsistent for example labour and corporate laws, these inconsistencies in the Zimbabwean laws may block both local and external serious  investors.

“When implementing Zimasset, the government can start by being transparent in its dealings, from there it will be easier to follow on what’s being done.” Said one expert commenting on the dangers of Zimasset being hijacked by corrupt elements.

However many experts in the mining industry are of the opinion that the Implementation of Zimasset is necessary in benefiting local people and firms, however, it is in need of serious revision to attract foreign investment. Experts believe that Zimbabwe need to identify strategic minerals that are necessary to  the growth of the  mining sector and the economy,  minerals also need to be incentivised.

“We can’t start and stop different economic blueprints without their full implementation, how then do we judge their success or failure, tough laws attract serious and tough foreign investors”, said one miner who support the idea of foreign direct investment.

Experts are of the view that Zimasset is just a policy directed at improving socio and economic environment of Zimbabwe post investment, it does not pose any effects on investment but throw away bogus investors who could be here to milky and exhaust all the riches of the land with the locals receiving near to nothing. Foreign investment in the mining sector should be offered hand in glove with mineral processing firms to decrease the high rate of raw mineral exports, the government and laws needs to be tougher when mines don’t comply.

Caledonia mine, one of the most performing mines in Zimbabwe with stakeholders: The National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund 16 percent, Blanket Employee Trust Services 10 percent, and Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust 10 percent. Caledonia was nominated number one performing mine in Zimbabwe in 2017. Gwanda community share ownership trust shares where a donation to the community under Zimasset. Foreign firms have been accused of sending profits to mother countries, however, through Zimasset the Gwanda community enjoy the riches of their land. Thus, Zimasset was supposed to be revised not entirely strapped.

Rio Tinto found the biggest diamond ever

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Rio Tinto found the biggest diamond ever

The biggest diamond ever found in North America has been unearthed by Dominion Diamond Mines and Rio Tinto Group at a mine in Canada’s frozen north.

The 552 ct yellow gem was found at the Diavik mine in the Northwest Territories, and is almost three times the size of the next largest stone ever found in Canada. While Diavik and the neighboring Ekati mine produce some very high quality diamonds, they’re not renowned for the sort of huge gems normally found in southern African mines.

Dominion Chief Executive Officer Shane Durgin said the diamond is gem quality, meaning it’s suitable for jewelry, but gave few additional details that help determine its value. Yellow stones typically sell at a discount to Type IIa top whites often found in the best African mines. Still, the highest quality fancy vivid yellow or fancy intense yellow stones can sell for a premium.

“We can label it fancy yellow, but beyond that, due to its rough nature and the abrasions received through the processing facility, that’s all we can comment on,” Durgin said in an interview. “It’s very hard to give a ballpark estimate. It all depends on, again, the cutting and the resulting stone it ends up.”

The discovery is the seventh-biggest this century, according to Bloomberg calculations, and would be among the 30 largest stones ever unearthed. The biggest was the 3 106 ct Cullinan, found near Pretoria in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into several polished gems, the two largest of which — the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa — are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.

There have been a slew of big finds in recent years as better technology helped miners first detect, and then not break big stones that are susceptible to being smashed in the mining process. Among those are diamonds found by Lucara Diamond Corp. and Gem Diamonds that fetched between $40-million and $63-million.

While the Diavik mine is 60% owned and operated by Rio, Dominion bought the stone in an internal auction process from its partner. Dominion said it will select someone soon to cut and polish the stone.

“It’s a beautiful gem-quality diamond,” Durgin said, adding that it was somewhat of a “miracle” that the stone survived the mining process. “It’s very unusual for a diamond of this size in this part of the world. So it’s a very unique discovery.”

The find comes at a good time for Dominion. Since billionaire Dennis Washington bought the company for $1.2-billion last year, there’s been a management merry-go-round with at least five senior personnel leaving. That includes CEO Patrick Evans, who left last week after just over a year at the helm. Dominion needs to decide if it will pull the trigger on expansion projects that would extend the life of the Ekati mine.

The market has also been under pressure, especially for smaller and lower quality stones. There’s currently an oversupply of such diamonds, and a weaker Indian rupee has put pressure on manufacturers in the country where about 90 percent of gems are cut and polished. Major cutting centers have also been squeezed by low margins and a drop in trade finance.

source: Mining Weekly

Zimbabwe seek lithium market

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Zimbabwe seek lithium market

Zimbabwe is on the verge of attaining global prominence through the widely sought after lithium after fledgling lithium mining company, Prospect Resources, recently exported 100 kilogrammes of lithium carbonate — used in the production of electric vehicles batteries — to Australia.

The lithium carbonate consignment is reportedly ready for distribution in the island nation to potential off-take partners for evaluation ahead of large-scale production in Zimbabwe.

Australia Stock Exchange (ASX) listed Prospect Resources, which owns Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ), said the exported lithium samples were produced at its pilot plant in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, using petalite ore from Prospect’s Arcadia Lithium Project (Arcadia).

With the successful production of lithium carbonate at its own plant, which was designed and built by Zimbabwean engineers, Prospect said it will now proceed to reconfigure the Kwekwe lithium carbonate plant from a pilot facility to a manufacturing plant.

The Arcadia Lithium project is located 38 kilometres east of Harare.

President Mnangagwa commissioned the first phase of the Arcadia lithium project, a fortnight ago at a function attended by several senior Government officials and foreign diplomats to pave way for the start of works to build the mineral ore processing plant and other support facilities including houses and offices.

Lithium mining, the President said at the ground breaking ceremony, is expected to be one of the most important sub-sectors that will drive economic growth in the short to medium term.

“Prospect’s ability to successfully produce lithium carbonate from its petalite ore at Arcadia is a first for Africa and positions the Company as one of the only companies to do so globally.

“Prospect is now able to provide samples to potential offtake partners to demonstrate the quality of the product. With this milestone achievement, the Company is now reconfiguring the pilot plant to manufacture lithium hydroxide,” Prospect said this week.

In the production of lithium carbonate, spodumene and petalite ore is processed into spodumene and petalite concentrate, which is then converted into lithium carbonate (battery grade lithium 99.5 percent Li2CO3) or lithium hydroxide.

Prospect’s Arcadia project will hoist Zimbabwe, currently the world’s 5th largest lithium producer with only a single mine operating, to much higher global production ranking and also earn the country hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange annually.

Currently, only Bikita Minerals is producing, but there are four other promising projects under development namely Kamativi, Zulu Lithium in Bulawayo and Lutope Lithium (Hwange).

According to Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando, Prospect’s Arcadia lithium project, which has potential to become Africa’s largest hard rock lithium mine, will produce petalite and spodumene for production of lithium-ion batteries.

This comes as lithium has gained global prominence as the most valuable mineral for the future due to its use in a number of areas including medicines and ceramics, but more importantly electric vehicle batteries.

This also comes amid growing global push for green energies.

Phase 1 of the Arcadia lithium project, which will earn Zimbabwe nearly $3 billion in exports over a 12 year life of mine, will go into production in the next four months. This will follow initial investment of $165 million. Seventy percent of the initial lithium to be mined was sold upfront.

Half of the requisite funding required for the first phase of the Arcadia project has already been raised while processes to secure the balance of the required capital outlay, which comes on the back of the successful completion of a definitive feasibility study, is in progress.

Based on the proposed 2,4 million tonnes per annum mining and processing operation, the DFS indicates that Arcadia will be a strong financial, high margin project with current forecast Life of Mine (LOM) revenue of $2,93 billion and average annual EBITDA of $106 million over an estimated 12-year mine life.

PLZ executive director Paul Chimbodza said in an interview after President Mnangagwa had commissioned the lithium project that the mining company was looking to secure a SEZ certificate soon.

SEZ, Mr Chimbodza said, was important for Zimbabwe given the cocktail of economic and business incentives awarded to companies in such targeted specific export oriented sectors, industries or sub-sectors.

source: Business Weekly

Oil prices rise

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Oil prices rise

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, after data showed inventory declines in the United States and as investors began to expect that the global oil market could have a deficit sooner than they had previously thought.

OPEC’s output agreement with Russia and Canada’s decision to mandate production cuts could create an oil market supply deficit by the second quarter of next year, if the top producers stick to their deal, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly Oil Market Report.

U.S. crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, fell by nearly 822,000 barrels in the week through Dec. 11, traders said, citing data from market intelligence firm Genscape.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $60.30 per barrel by 10:51 EST (1551 GMT). U.S. light crude CLc1 was 21 cents higher, or 0.4 percent, at $51.36 a barrel.

“The market over the last week has attempted to stabilise and I still think that’s what is happening today,” said Gene McGillian, manager of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. — Reuters.

Gold prices flat as palladium rises

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Gold prices flat as palladium rises

Gold was little changed on Thursday as the dollar steadied and equities climbed on signs of easing trade tensions between the United States and China, while palladium rose to a record high, trading at a premium to the bullion.
Spot gold was steady at $1,245.55 per ounce at 0806 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.1 percent at $1,251.2 per ounce.

“Market sentiment is neutral today… We’ve got a little more positive sentiment than we anticipated from U.S.-China trade tensions, which is weighing on the topside,” said Stephen Innes, APAC trading head at OANDA in Singapore.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major rivals, was down a tad at 96.958, after retreating from a near one-month high overnight.

Meanwhile, Asian shares advanced on signs of easing trade tensions between the world’s top two economies, and expectations that China will step up efforts soon to support its cooling economy.

China appears to be easing its high-tech industrial development push, dubbed “Made in China 2025,” which has long irked the United States, while it also made its first major U.S. soybean purchases in more than six months on Wednesday.
Investors seem more interested in equity at this point of time than in gold, said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. — Reuters.

Registration/ Renewal as a Custom Milling Center (SI 329,2002; SI 178,2006)

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Registration/ Renewal as a Custom Milling Center (SI 329,2002; SI 178,2006)

Registration/ Renewal as a Custom Milling Center (SI 329,2002; SI 178,2006)

1.1 Every Custom Milling Plant must be registered before it can operate.

1.2 The Custom Milling licenses expire every 31st December.

1.3 Renewal of Custom Milling Licenses are done every 12 months to the Mining Commissioner for the district under which they are registered.

1.4 Registration and/ or renewal requirements are as follows:

  • The Custom Mill shall pay a renewal fee that the Ministry shall decide from time to time.
  • The Custom Mill shall obtain an Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate (EIA).
  • The Mill shall be inspected by the Regional Mining Engineer, Regional Surveyor and Regional Metallurgist approved by the Director for Metallurgy.

1.5 Once the Mill complies with these and other requirements, the Secretary shall issue a Registration or Renewal License whichever the case may be.

Fiscal Incentives In The Zimbabwe Mining Sector

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INCOME TAX

Taxable Income of a Holder of Special Mining Lease
  • 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%.
  • 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
  • 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 carryover 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.

Procedure and Criteria for Issuing Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs)

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These are the procedures and Criteria for Issuing Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs)

1.1  Application is made to Secretary, Mining Affairs Board who:-

  • acknowledges receipt of application by date-stamping and assigning it an application number e.g. EPO 1/09 (or EPO Application No. 1 of 2009), EPO 2/09 denoting the sequence in which they were received and the year received.
  • also checks fulfillment of legal requirements of the application.

1.2 Procedures of acquiring an EPO are detailed on the table below:

 

Processing Steps for Exclusive Prospecting Orders

STAGE

RESPONSIBILITY

 MAB Secretariat /Legal ServicesZimbabwe Geological Survey  [ZGS]MAB chaired by the Permanent SecretaryMinister/ President
  1. 1. Application Submission
  2. Accepts and assigns Application Number in the format Serial No./Year [eg 01/09…..217/09.]
  3. Sends Application copy to ZGS
  1. 2. Application Verification
Checks on:

  • Area for overlaps etc;
  • Work programme
  • Budget
  • Company profile
  • Minerals sought
  • Technical expertise
  • Expected results
  1. 3. Application Noting
Recommends Applications to be noted after above assessment.Based on available information application is NOTED or REJECTED
  1. 4. Application Gazettal
  • Reserves area.
  • Draft General notice sent to Attorney General for checking
Publishes checked notice in Government Gazette for objections within 21 days.
  1. 5. Application Consideration
Invites Company to appear before MAB for interview
  1. Interview conducted
  2. Consideration for recommendation or rejection made.
  1. 6. Application recommendation and Approval
  • Assigns EPO No. eg 4886….
  • Prepares Cabinet minute to President, supporting memo and draft General Notice of Order.
  • Draft Notice sent to AG’s Office
General Notice sent to Minister and then to President for APPROVAL or REJECTION.
  1. 7. EPO Gazettal
  • Approved General Notice sent for Gazettal.
  • Approved Order sent to Applicant
  1. 8. EPO Work Monitoring
  • Receives Six-monthly progress reports.
  • Sends copies to ZGS.
  • Evaluates six-monthly reports.
  • Visits exploration sites.
  • Makes recommendations to MAB.
  • Compiles geo-technical data from EPO’s
Accepts or rejects continuation of exploration work.

 

Mining Affairs Board Criteria For Recommending EPO Applications

1.3 In making the recommendation the Board looks at the following (or should be satisfied with the following):-

  • the applicant(s)’ background;
  • corporate structure
  • that the applicant is a fit and proper person to obtain an Order and is of adequate financial standing to undertake such operations under an EPO;
  • that it would not be against national interest to make such an order;
  • the applicant’s programme of work; and
  • technical expertise;

1.4 The EPO is transferable with recommendations from the President.

Mining Affairs Board Criteria For Recommending EPO Applications

1.3 In making the recommendation the Board looks at the following (or should be satisfied with the following):-

  • the applicant(s)’ background;
  • corporate structure
  • that the applicant is a fit and proper person to obtain an Order and is of adequate financial standing to undertake such operations under an EPO;
  • that it would not be against national interest to make such an order;
  • the applicant’s programme of work; and
  • technical expertise;

1.4 The EPO is transferable with recommendations from the President.

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