admin
Lovemore Zigara, Business Correspondent
THE government has started engaging stakeholders in the mining sector to discuss how gold output can be increased in line with this year’s target, an official has said.
Presenting the 2016 national budget in November last year, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the government this year targets 24 tonnes of gold up from 18.7 tonnes in 2015.
For the projected target to be achieved, it means small-scale miners and large mining houses should have a combined monthly output of two tonnes.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Fred Moyo said gold producers were likely to close this month with 1.2 tonnes.
“To have 24 tonnes per year means we should produce two tonnes per month, but the projections for January indicate that we’ll produce 1.2 tonnes.
“The figure is very worrying because we would’ve missed the monthly target by over 50 percent,” he said.
“There’re three areas that must be synchronized once treasury has said it wants 24 tonnes of gold.
“The mining industry must therefore confirm that it can achieve 24 tonnes. And from my discussions with officials in the ministry, small scale miners and the chamber of mines, we’ll have to draw up a plan starting at provincial level and then we cascade down to the mines to see what they can produce so that we meet that target,” added Moyo.
Last year’s gold output was the highest in 11 years and this was attributed to increased production from small-scale miners.
The Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF) has announced that it is set to double its production to 14 tonnes this year up from seven tonnes it delivered to Fidelity Printers and Refineries last year.
Presenting the group’s financial results for the year ended September 30 2015, Falcon Gold chief executive Ian Saunders said there was some doubt about the company’s ability to survive as a going concern as currently configured due to poor commodity prices among other challenges.
Last year, Metallon Gold was forced to revise downwards its 150,000 ounces production target by 30 percent owing to grade challenges at some of its mines and intermitted power cuts.
Online Reporter