The week has seen a lot of developments within the mining sector with one of the big stories being the dismissal of seven members of the ZCDC Executive Management including the Chief Executive Officer Dr. Moris Bekezela Mpofu, the commissioning of a $62 million smelter at Unki Mine in Shurugwi, among others.
Seven ZCDC Bosses Dismissed.
The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company has terminated contracts for seven members of the Executive Management including the Chief Executive Officer Dr. Moris Bekezela Mpofu.
According to the ZCDC board chairman Engineer Killian Ukama, the contracts of employment for the executives have been terminated in line with the prevailing operating environment and the need to rebuild public and market confidence in the state diamond miner.
The chief operating officer Mr Roberto de Pretto has been appointed acting chief executive officer with immediate effect until further notice.
AngloPlat commissions US$62m Unki smelter
Anglo American Platinum on Thursday commissioned a $62 million smelter at its Unki Mine in Shurugwi, as it seeks to meet local value addition and beneficiation commitments.
The smelter is sized to meet Unki’s current production and retains the capability for later upgrades to meet future increased mine production.
Military stake stymies $4bn Zimbabwe platinum project
A plan to build Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum mine at a cost of about $4 billion is floundering because a military stake in the project has deterred potential backers, according to people familiar with the funding discussions.
The African Export-Import Bank has the mandate to raise money for the mine, a joint venture between Russian and Zimbabwean investors. While the bank provided $192 million of its own funds, meetings in the past year with investors including South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, the continent’s biggest fund manager, failed to bring additional commitments, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private.
ED Threatens To Stop Raw Diamond Exports.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has threatened to stop exports of raw minerals including diamonds so as to increase value addition and beneficiation within the mining sector.
Speaking during the commissioning of the $62 million Unki Mine smelting plant in Shurugwi yesterday, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe is still exporting 90% of its diamonds unprocessed.
Hwange Power Station Funding Under Threat.
Zimbabwe might face challenges accessing the US$1 billion loan facility from China’s Eximbank for Hwange Power Station expansion following the change of functional currency that resulted in funds that were held in an escrow account to securitise an earlier loan being converted to local currency.
