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With gold mining being one of Zimbabwe’s mineral resources, the country’s development agency seeks to use a phased recovery approach to revive three of its gold mines which were put under care and maintenance due to under capitalization.
According to Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) acting general manager Nelson Chinzou, plans to revive the mines have been put into phases, and the board is currently engaged in negotiations with investors who expressed interest in investing in one of the mines, he told Zimbabwean Herald recently.
They (ZMDC) plan to invest US$ 3m at Sabi Gold Mine for the reprocessing of gold dumps or sands containing an estimated US$ 3.6m value of gold at grades of about 0.65 grammes per tonne.
The agency is also looking at introducing short, medium and long-term phases to improve efficiencies and ramp up production at the mines.
ZMDC entirely owns Sabi and Elvington gold mines, which are currently dormant and maintaining project status, while Jena Mine has been the only one operating but at a loss.
Background:
ZMDC was established by an Act of Parilament No. 31 of 1982 and it is involved in the mining of diamond, gold, and emeralds in the country.
Diamond MiningZMDC owns 100 percent shareholding in Marange Resources which is engaged in diamond mining in Chiadzwa, Mutare in the eastern part of Zimbabwe.
Since 2005 ZMDC has entered into Joint Venture agreements with international companies to form: Anjin Investment, Diamond Mining Corporation and Mbada Resources. Diamond mining has contributed significantly to the foreign currency earnings of the country.
Gold MiningSabi Gold Mine in Zvishavane, Jena Gold Mines in Silobela and Elvington Gold Mine in Chegutu have a significant contribution to Zimbabwe’s gold production as well as increasing foreign exchange earnings for the country.
Graphite ZMDC holds a Joint Venture with Graphitwerk Kropffmuhs to form Zimbabwe German Graphite Mine (ZGGM) (Pvt) Ltd which mines graphite in Karoi.
EmeraldZimbabwe’s Sandawana mines have been an important producer of emeralds for 40 years. Consistent production has been established and in addition to the small sizes Sandawana emeralds is known for greater numbers of polished stones that have been produced.
