Shamva Mine targets 400kg of gold monthly
IN two years time, Shamva Gold Mine is targeting to produce 400kg of gold per month if it gets US$180 million from its parent company Kuvimba Mining House for the open-pit and processing plant operations.
This comes as the critical mining sector has been growing in leaps and bounds, thanks to global demand of minerals as well as efforts of the Second Republic.
Crucially projections in the mining sector indicate that the country is primed to surpass its target of a US$12 billion economy by 2023 which is one of the pillars towards the realisation of Vision 2030. So far, Shamva gold that has been surpassing targets on a monthly basis, has managed to drill on Shamva Hill.
Shamva Gold Mine manager Mr Alfred Chinyere said by 2023 this new operation will enable the mine to produce 400kg of gold per month.
Currently, the mine is operating above the set target of 30 000 tonnes of gold ore and breaking records each month with 48 000 tonnes produced in July.
“Since November last year we have been creating new records every month. This is possible because we have adequate resources. Our competent workforce is highly motivated, they get their salaries on time and production bonuses,” he said.
Mr Chinyere said exploration activities were done and they have managed to drill on Shamva Hill.
“This is going to change the dynamics of the mine because we are starting to mine an open pit at a rate of 200 000 tonnes per month. The ore will be processed here and we are going to build a new processing plant which is going to treat underground ore and the open pit ore.
“We have finished the pre-feasibility stage and we will finish the definitive feasibility stage by September this year. We now have an idea of what we want because the exploration results are done,” said Mr Chinyere.
“We now know the resource and US$180 million is being invested so that the process starts in January next year. At the moment Freda Rebecca Mine is producing 300kg and with Shamva Gold Mine producing 400kg the province will become a major gold producer,” he said.
Kuvimba Mining House director Mr Eliakem Hove said the new investment in Shamva has transformed the district and national fortune within a short space of time.
“Our desire as Kuvimba Mining House is to grow Shamva which is now operating at a higher level than before. Our vision is to bring Shamva to 400 kg operations in about two years. The district is endowed with several assets which we are looking at and that will change the face of Shamva and Bindura. We are part of contributing to the provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We are ranked second but soon we will be number one,” said Mr Hove.
Buoyed by a bumper harvest which will see the country’s agriculture sector growing by 34 percent, the country’s economy is set to grow by 7,8 percent also underpinned by the mining sector which is expected to grow by 11 percent.
Despite challenges brought by the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is currently experiencing widespread infrastructural development as the Second Republic funds devolution projects in the spirit of President Mnangagwa’s mantra that “no one will be left behind”.