Annual Chamber of Mines indaba kicks off in Victoria Falls

THE annual Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe Conference kicks off here today and delegates are expected to engage in high-level discussions during the three-day indaba.

Coming at a time when Zimbabwe is pushing towards meeting the US$12 billion mining industry target this year, the conference seeks to create value and opportunities for emerging minerals such as lithium.Several delegates arrived here yesterday and attended the closed sessions for the Chamber of Mines council meeting and the annual general meeting for council members.

This year the conference runs under the theme: “Mining for Economic Transformation: Creating Growth Enablers for the Mining Industry”.

According to the programme, President Mnangagwa is expected to officially open the conference on Thursday.

Organisers have said the conference will focus on a wide range of issues affecting the mining industry at a time when the sector has been on a growth trajectory especially judging by the opening of new mining entities across the spectrum of the mineral resource.Mining is one of Zimbabwe’s key economic drivers alongside agriculture, manufacturing and tourism.

Among areas of deliberation will be the growth potential of the battery minerals value, prospects for a regional battery minerals value, developing battery minerals value chain with a case study of global experiences and strengthening governance in the batteries minerals value chain, best practice as well as the overview of the Zimbabwe lithium sector.

The conference will also discuss avenues to consolidate growth drivers for the mining industry and how to address challenges undermining the
potential growth of mineral subsectors.

Electricity supply for the mining industry and alternative energy solutions for mining companies are topics also expected to take centre stage.