Mines confident of achieving US$12bn milestone

Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura, has said the ministry has its work cut out as it steers the mining sector towards the attainment of the 2023 milestone as set out by President Mnangagwa.

The mining sector together with agriculture have been identified as the two main sectors which should drive the country’s economic revival towards the President’s Vision 2030 by which Zimbabwe should attain upper middle income earning status. In the case of mining, the sector is expected to generate annual exports of up to US$12 billion by 2023 from US$2, 7 in 2017.

Speaking in Shamva at a function to mark the reopening of Shamva Gold Mine recently, Deputy Minister Kambamura said together with Minister Winston Chitando they had made a solid commitment to the President that the milestone will be achieved.

Deputy Minister Kambamura said they had made the commitment fully aware that the President takes very seriously all issues that have a bearing on people’s lives, with the US$12 mining exports milestone being one such issue.

“The Honourable Minister (Chitando) and myself gave a solid commitment to His Excellency that come 2023 we will have a US$12 billion mining industry,” said Deputy Minister Kambamura.

“Now the President takes so seriously commitments that have to do with the people’s lives and we are working tirelessly, sleeves up to see that we deliver to His Excellency and the people of Zimbabwe at large,” he said.

The Deputy Minister, however, said Government authorities beginning to see green shoots with indications on the ground point to the milestone in the process of being attained.

He said, the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), which ran from 2018 and is ending this year, had clearly set parameters with which the milestone is to be achieved. Among these, was the reopening of closed mining assets, ramping up of production in all existing mines, opening new mines as well as value addition and beneficiation.

All this he said is being achieved as exemplified by the reopening of Shamva Gold Mine which was spiced up by a production ramp up exercise that surpassed records of the past 10 years.

“One of the biggest challenges that the sector was facing prior to the coming of the New Dispensation is mine closures and our people were losing jobs as a result,” said the Deputy Minister.

“When the New Government came in, the message that we were getting from people was that please go and ask the President to help reopen this or that mine and that was the same case here at Shamva Gold Mine.

“It’s a message that we took to the President and this reopening is His Excellency’s response to the people’s request.

“Under the TSP, which was launched by His Excellency in 2018, the Ministry had four priority areas to work on and these are the reopening of closed mines, opening new mines, expansion of existing mines and value addition of our minerals.

“If you look at activities of the last months, you will see several examples of these four TSP pillars for the mining sector. The investor at Shamva Gold Mine responded with a two in one approach, that is the reopening of the mine and ramp up of production, the mine is earmarked for further expansion to produce 400kg of gold per month,” he said.-herald.cl.zw