Home Blog Page 654

Gold war left one dead

TEPE
-
0
Gold war left one dead

Police have launched a manhunt for eight Zhombe gold panners who stabbed two fellow miners leaving one dead and another battling for his life following a fight over a gold claim.

Midlands provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Joel Goko said the suspects led by Denis Moyo and his brothers were on a revenge mission over mining at an undisclosed mine when they attacked the rival group leaving Leo Ncube dead and his colleague Prince Makonza seriously injured.

“The incident occurred at Bob’s Business Centre in Zhombe. The gang, led by Moyo, arrived at the business centre and found Ncube and his friend Makonza drinking beer in a bar,” he said.

“Upon entering the bar the suspects allegedly started assaulting the patrons indiscriminately with empty beer bottles hitting Prince on the head and stabbing him with knives several times all over the body.”

Goko added that Ncube ran out of the bar to his car, but the suspects caught up with him and stabbed him all over the body in front of his younger brother.

“The suspects disappeared into the darkness. The police are appealing to members of the public, who might have information that may lead to the arrest of Denis and his brothers Mncedisi, Descent, Mthabisi all of Village 17, Chief Gwesela, Zhombe and their four other accomplices to make a report to any nearest police station or make use of the suggestion boxes nearer to them,” he said.

Goko appealed to members of the public, particularly artisanal miners, to desist from using violence in solving disputes._NewsDay

South Mining invests $50 million on new battery oven

TEPE
-
0
South Mining invests $50 million on new battery oven

COKING coal producer, South Mining, has invested $50 million into the construction of a new battery oven at its Hwange plant.

The company targets to produce more than 400 000 tonnes of coke per annum by 2020. It processes “Run Out of Mine” coal into coking coal, which is smelted into coke. Coke, whose by-products include crude tar, benzol and coke oven gas, is a critical component in the ferrochrome and stainless steel smelting industry and has high export demand than ordinary thermal coal.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Raj Modi on Friday toured South Mining battery oven plant and the site for a new oven where construction is underway.

South Mining general manager Mr Chenji Li said the first phase of construction of the new oven battery will be completed in October and full capacity production realised in January next year.

“We have put $51,2 million in our new project, which we are doing in phases with production set to start next year. Once we start producing we expect to bring in about $36 million in foreign currency through export,” said Mr Li.

The company which intends to increase production to 420 000 tonnes per annum once it completes building the two new oven batteries, said it will in the process create bout 300 new jobs.

Mr Li said his company was planning to supply gas to Zimbabwe Power Company to replace the diesel the electricity company was importing from South Africa.

On Thursday, the Deputy Minister toured Hwange Colliery Company as well as Victoria Falls crocodile farm to assess production. 

Deputy Minister Modi said there was a need for Hwange Colliery Company to engage partners for retooling to replace it ageing equipment and machinery_The Chronicle

Karo Resources still operating within set timelines

TEPE
-
0
Karo Resources still operating within set timelines

Karo Resources, which has established a huge camp at its platinum mining claims in Mhondoro-Ngezi, is still operating within set timelines, which envisage that production will begin next year, a Cabinet Minister has said.

The company signed a US$4,2 billion deal with Government in March last year — four months after the political transition that gave rise to the President Emmerson Mnangagwa-led administration.

At full production, Karo Platinum — which plans to produce more than 1,4 million ounces annually — is  expected to dwarf the combined production of Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki, and employ at least 15 000 people directly.

A further 75 000 workers will benefit indirectly.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) last week that there will soon be a field day at the mining site to apprise stakeholders of the progress recorded thus far.

“Essentially, Karo have been doing what I will term resource-definition work. They (last year) did extensive aeromagnetic surveys of the area,” he said.

“At the moment, they are now quite advanced in terms of resource definition. I visited site about two weeks ago and they have set up a huge camp (on site).

“But the bottom line is Karo is on course to produce from the first pit by the end of 2020, in terms of the original agreement whereby they are four pits which will be opened: one operational by end of 2020, the next by end of 2021, the next by end of 2022 (and the fourth by end of) 2023.

“So that programme is well on course and soon there will be a field day in which stakeholders will be invited to come and see (the progress),” he said.

The significant progress being made by the new entrant in the local mining sector puts paid rumours that Karo would not have the financial wherewithal to undertake the investment.

On November 12 last year, a  high-powered delegation from the mining company —which was led by chairperson Mr Loucas Pouroulis and the group’s financer, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) – paid a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa and gave assurances that the project will proceed as initially scheduled.

AFC, who were represented by their president and chief executive officer Mr Samaila Zubairu, told a news conference after meeting the President that his organisation stands ready to support the project with an initial capital injection of $2 billion. In December last year, the miner conducted extensive aeromagnetic surveys at its claims._The Sunday Mail

ZMF applies for a fuel importation licence

TEPE
-
0
ZMF applies for a fuel importation licence

THE Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has applied for a licence to allow the organisation to import fuel for its members in a bid to improve efficiency within the small-scale mining sector.

The Government announced a few weeks ago that it has liberalised the importation of fuel with Cabinet giving big companies with free funds the green light to import fuel for their own consumption. The move by Government is meant to augment supply gaps in the market, especially for the mining sector.

ZMF general council chairman Mr Makumba Nyenje said the miners’ body had already applied for the licence and they were waiting for a response from the Government.

“We have applied to the Government to be given a permit to import our own fuel. We have applied through Zera (Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority) to the Ministry of Energy and Power Development to get a licence for us to import our fuel as a federation. We are still waiting for the response and as soon as we get the green light we will start importing for our members,” said Mr Nyenje. 

He said the licence will save them from queuing for fuel which takes up most of their time.

“We would like to have fuel in all garages in mining towns for our membership. Miners will be using their e-cards and we also want to introduce the coupon system so that miners can be able to redeem them at the garages we would have made arrangements with. Currently the problem we are having is that we are queuing like everyone else which is greatly affecting our work,” he said. 

Mr Nyenje also highlighted that most small- scale miners were embracing the e-card that was introduced by ZMF in partnership with Met Bank. ZMF in conjunction with Met Bank last year launched an electronic multi-purpose membership card for miners which is linked to the mobile phone that can enable a miner to access loans and mining equipment offered by the bank, confirm membership, buy goods, pay bills and transfers among other things._The Sunday News

New mining regime to attract investors

TEPE
-
0
New mining regime to attract investors

The imminent review of the law to allow foreign investors to wholly own investments in diamond will help boost foreign direct investment in the mining sector and across value chains, the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CoMZ) has said.

The Government has been progressively reviewing the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in order to create a business-friendly environment.

In the post November 2017 political transition, Government immediately scrapped the requirement for foreign investors to limit their investment threshold to 49 percent, but it was retained for the diamond and platinum mining sectors.

However, in an interview with US-headquartered Bloomberg TV last week, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the requirement foreigners would now be allowed to control 100 percent of their investments in the key mining sub-sector.

“We are removing that indigenisation rule, which is discouraging foreign direct investment. We say Zimbabwe is open for business; you can only be open if you allow ownership of 100 percent,” said Minister Ncube.

There are indications that the policy would be extended to the diamond mining sector as well.

CoMZ chief executive officer Isaac Kwesu said the latest move was a step in the right direction and would bring the much-needed foreign direct investment, create employment within the sector and across value chains.

“We have a huge mineral resource as a country, but on our own, without foreign direct investment, we may not realise much or unlock value from our mineral resource.

“The platinum value chain is capital intensive, and this move will attract investors across value chains. As it is now, we need FDI, which is the common practice everywhere,” said Mr Kwesu.

Positive spin-offs

The country’s platinum production, he added, would also increase on increased investment in the sector, while beneficiation and value addition would expand — boosting employment creation, taxes and royalties.

Other downstream industries are also expected to benefit through local procurement.

“The bigger population will benefit from this. This will have a huge impact in the socio- economic transformation of many Zimbabweans,” he said.

Mining is one of the strategic sectors driving the economy.

Government has been working on attracting capital into the sector, which is considered key in plans to establish an Upper Middle-Income economy by 2030.

Zimbabwe has vast mineral deposits ranging from gold, platinum, diamonds, nickel and chrome.

The country is home to the world’s second-largest known platinum deposits after South Africa, while its gold reserves are one of the largest in Africa.

United Kingdom-based economic research firm Fitch Solutions believes Zimbabwe will become a mining giant in the Sub-Saharan region.

“Zimbabwe is emerging as an important mining centre within Southern Africa as foreign investment drives growth in mineral and metals production,” said Fitch in their recent publication on the country ( Zimbabwe Country Risk Q1 2019).

“In terms of overall platinum output, Zimbabwe is challenging the world’s largest platinum producers, Russia and South Africa, while gold production is also set to ramp up over the medium term.

“Zimbabwe will experience a temporary boost in gold production in 2017-2019 as the impact of a gradual recovery in global gold prices and regulatory changes lead to an increase in activity by smaller mining firms. Zimbabwe’s platinum output will also grow at a steady pace, while that of its main competitors, South Africa and Russia, will stagnate over time, according to our mining team,” said Fitch.

The international think tank also sees the Zimbabwean economy recovering from more than two decades of sluggish growth driven by mining and tourism, among other key sectors of the domestic economy.

Fitch also says President Mnangagwa’s administration has shown commitment to reforms with the amendments to indigenisation laws a positive sign of its pledge to create a conducive business environment.

“The new Government in Zimbabwe has shown signs of progress towards implementing investor-friendly structural reforms, which will encourage FDI and buttress economic growth over the long term.

“Zimbabwe is endowed with a wealth of natural resources and vast human capital compared to regional peers,” it said._The Sunday Mail

Petra Diamonds shares jump after another discovery at Cullinan

TEPE
-
0
Petra Diamonds shares jump after another discovery at Cullinan

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) has found a 100.83 carat gem-quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.

The D-colour, Type II diamond follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 carat Type II blue stone, also at Cullinan.

The company has piled up debt after building a new plant and digging deeper at its flagship Cullinan diamond mine.

“The recoveries demonstrate the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody as well as the ability of the mine’s plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds,” Petra said.

The company, which appointed last month former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive, said that both stones would be included in its upcoming March tender.

Shares climbed as much as 10.5% after the announcement, closing at 21.2p in London on Friday.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand Cullinan, where the world’s biggest-ever diamond was found in 1905._Mining.com

Tanzania threatens Acacia Mining of a possible shutdown over water pollution

TEPE
-
0
Tanzania threatens Acacia Mining of a possible shutdown over water pollution

Tanzania has given Barrick Gold-subsidiary Acacia Mining (LON:ACA) until March 30 to stop waste water pollution at its North Mara mine or face a shutdown, but the country’s No.1 gold producer said Friday a brief spill affecting the operation has already been halted.

The miner says the spill happened because sections of a pipeline used to carry water to a tailings storage facility were either vandalized or stolen.

The African miner, fined over the incident in January, said the spillage happened after sections of a pipeline used to carry waste water from the North Mara mine to a tailings storage facility (TSF) had been either vandalized or stolen. As a result, it said, the pump used to move tailings was switched off, causing water levels in the pond to rise and subsequently overflow.

“The mine has welcomed the support of the government on resolving this issue, and is working closely with the authorities to implement improvements to security measures around the polishing pond in order to help prevent any recurrence,” Acacia said in the statement.

Barrick Gold, which owns 63.9% of Acacia Mining, recently proposed  a plan to settle disputes between the Tanzania miner and the country’s government, which includes a $300 million payment to resolve tax claims in the East African nation.

In 2017, Acacia was handed a $190 billion tax bill — almost four times Tanzania’s gross domestic product and about two centuries worth of revenue for the company — for underreporting output, an allegation the company denies.

North Mara is Acacia’s largest mine. It produced 336,055 ounces of gold last year, or about 65% of the company’s total output._Mining.com

Gold gains while Palladium, platinum eye biggest weekly fall

TEPE
-
0
Gold gains while Palladium, platinum eye biggest weekly fall

Gold rose a percent to a one-week high yesterday, briefly breaching the pivotal $1,300-per-ounce ceiling, as weak U.S. payroll data dented the dollar and risk sentiment, while also exacerbating a gloomy global economic picture.

U.S. job growth almost stalled in February with the economy creating only 20,000 jobs amid a contraction in payrolls in construction and several other sectors.

Spot gold was up 1 percent at $1,298.66 per ounce as of 1:56 p.m. EST (1856 GMT), en route to a weekly gain of 0.4 percent. Prices on Thursday fell to $1,280.91, within striking distance of a more than five-week low touched earlier this week.

U.S. gold futures settled up 1 percent at $1,299.30.

“We saw a surprisingly weak non-farm jobs number that pressured the dollar and the U.S. stock markets, which in turn supported the rally in gold,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals. “Gold is going to be influenced by the dollar index.”

The dollar held its earlier losses versus a basket of currencies, making bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies, while Wall Street was set to fall after the jobs data.

“Growth in the U.S. is going to slow as the country has reached full employment and productivity is very high so there isn’t much space for growth … And we’re coming to an end of the Federal Reserve’s rate cycle, which should weaken the dollar further,” said Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah.

While Friday’s report from the Labor Department did have a few bright spots, such as dip in the unemployment rate and an upward revision to December and January data, it did indicate the U.S. economy is slowing, supporting the Fed’s “patient” approach toward interest rate hikes this year.

The jobs number could be revised up and the “internals” were not so bad, Kitco’s Wyckoff said.

“I don’t think this particular report alone will alter the Fed’s monetary policy,” he said. “If we get a string of weak numbers next couple of months, then that’s a different story, but right now that 20,000 rise in non-farm is an anomaly.”

Investors also kept a close eye on trade talks between the United States and China, with mixed signals from Washington on the likelihood of a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, palladium slipped 1.5 percent to $1,505 per ounce, on track for its biggest weekly decline since the week ended Nov. 23.

Silver gained 1.9 percent to $15.30, after slipping to its lowest since late December on Thursday. Silver was up 0.8 percent for the week.

Platinum rose 0.2 percent to $814.88 per ounce. It was down 5.3 percent so far this week, its biggest weekly percentage decline since mid-August. _Reuters

Lancashire Steel to resume operations

TEPE
-
0
Lancashire Steel to resume operations

Lancashire Steel, a subsidiary of Ziscosteel, is set to resume operations after a new investor
Whinstone Enterprises agreed to inject fresh capital.

Lancashire Steel, which used to produce wire among other steel products, closed in 2010 as a result
of shortage of supply after its mother company Ziscosteel suspended operations. However, there
could be light at the end of the tunnel after Lancashire Steel and Whinstone Enterprises — under the
Lancashire Joint Venture (LJV) vehicle — on Wednesday called for former staffers to apply for jobs at the
Kwekwe-based steel maker.

LJV said it was looking forward to assembling a new team and beginning operations. “… All long
service employees of Lancashire Steel who served in various divisions in the plant section (must)
submit their CVs and job profiles as a matter of urgency to the plant offices in Kwekwe,” the company
said.

This comes as the Indian partner raised a stink last year after it emerged that the company was being
investigated in Botswana for corruption. According to local media reports, the deal will give Whinstone
Enterprises 50 percent ownership of the Kwekwe-based steelmaker after five years, and 90 percent of
profits, but fails to specify how much the company is supposed to invest in the deal, which analysts
say was a case of corporate raiding of a national resource.

Lancashire Steel — which stopped operations in 2010 — entered into a five-year partnership with
Whinstone Enterprises, owned by the Verma family, which was implicated in the closure of Pula Steel
in Botswana under a cloud.

The Verma family, which owned 17 percent of Pula Steel, while 52,3 percent was held by the
Botswana government through Bamangwato Concessions, was under investigation in the
neighbouring country after the company closed in 2016.

Ranvir Kumar Verma, who owns Whinstone Enterprises, was Pula Steel chief executive at the time it
was hit by allegations of corruption and forced to close. Reports by Botswana’s Mmegi newspaper
indicate that Ranvir has no experience in steel manufacturing and was allegedly behind the
employment of illegal Indian immigrants.

Since the deal between Lancashire Steel and Whinstone Enterprises was signed on July 27, 2018
insiders said there has been no movement amid reluctance by the Indians to pour money into
operations. “Lancashire Steel looked for an investor because they didn’t have money, but then the
investor came and says you have been down for long, don’t expect to be up and running soon.

He can’t even pay electricity bills and, instead, wants us to pay through sales of scrap metal,” a source
said.

Ezekiel Machingambi who was acting managing director at the firm last year confirmed that production
had not started and could not say when it would._Daily News

Botswana sees lower mineral revenues in 2019

TEPE
-
0
Botswana sees lower mineral revenues in 2019

Diamond rich Botswana expects mineral revenues in the 2019/20 fiscal year to drop by 4 percent to 13.6 billion pula ($1.26 billion) due to a decline in royalties and dividends, a minerals ministry budget document showed on Thursday.

Mineral Resources Minister Eric Molale said in the document that global diamond demand was showing signs of slowing down. Retail jewellery sales fell during the last quarter of 2018, he said, while polished prices continued to decline into the beginning of 2019, albeit at a slower rate.

“Trading and prices of diamonds are expected to remain subdued during the first quarter of 2019 due to significant overstocking of small polished diamonds,” Molale said in the document presented to parliament late on Wednesday.

Debswana, a joint venture between Anglo American’s De Beers and Botswana, produced 24.1 million carats of diamonds in 2018, a 6 percent jump from the previous year.

The company is the largest contributor to Botswana’s government revenues._Reuters

1...653654655...677Page 654 of 677