The Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando on behalf of Zimbabwe signed an agreement with Tsingshan Holdings Group, which will see the company expanding its operations in Zimbabwe.
Rudairo Mapuranga
Tsingshan, one of the world’s top nickel producers, is currently building a $1 billion stainless steel plant in Manhize near Chivhu. The company also has a coking coal operation and a ferrochrome smelter in Zimbabwe, which has some of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium reserves.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding at the state house yesterday, President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa said the group will expand its operations to cement and lithium concentrate production as well as scaling up coke and ferrochrome production.
“Tsingshan Holding Group is set to expand its current operations. This will see the company embark on the production of cement and lithium concentrate as well as scaling up coke and ferrochrome production among other mining and lithium processing projects,” President Mnangagwa said.
Tsingshan’s founder, Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda, oversaw the signing of an outline agreement for Tsingshan’s planned expansion projects said apart from expanding to cement and lithium concentrate production, Tsingshan was going to look for solutions to generate electricity.
“We have discovered that there are power challenges, as a group, we will look for solutions to generate electricity for our projects as well as for the national grid,” Guangda said.
Speaking at the signing ceremony Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando gave a more detailed scope of the project to be undertaken by Tsingshan,
“The project currently underway in Manhize will see 600 thousand tonnes of carbon steel production, the two projects at Dinson Colliery includes a coke battery with 150 thousand tonnes capacity when operational, the other 180 thousand tonnes capacity per annum. The signing of this MoU provides for the following, 5 million tonnes per annum of carbon steel production, 5 million tonnes per annum of coke production from the current capacity, and 500 thousand tonnes per annum ferrochrome production compared to the current 150 thousand in Selous. Tsingshan is currently constructing a 100km power line.
“In terms of the provision of the MoU, they will add to the production and processing of copper, they will from the iron slag produce a target cement of 1 million tonnes, they will construct a lithium concentrate plant with a minimum of 3 million tonnes per annum. They will construct a railway line to the port in Mozambique,” the Minister said.
