admin“The creation of this consortium is in direct response to calls by His Excellency, President Robert Mugabe on fellow Zimbabweans to empower themselves through the establishment of productive consortiums especially in mining,” said Dr Kereke.
He emphasised that it was the President’s aspiration that Zimbabweans become masters of their own destiny through active participation in the productive sectors of the economy. Dr Kereke also said they are looking at diversification with regards to the minerals they are targeting for the venture, ranging from copper, diamonds and coal to gold, tantalite, lithium and emeralds.
The Bikita community was represented by their chiefs led by Chief Mazungunye and they all appended their signatures on the consortium agreement on behalf of their communities. Special groups in the Bikita community will also be catered for in the venture and these include freedom fighters, those with disability, youths, women groups and the church community.
Dr Kereke told journalists at a Press briefing that followed the signing of the agreement that the necessary pegging has already been done on the mining sites and they will be publishing progress reports regularly.
“Soon after the Easter holidays we are going to start moving the equipment to be used at the various sites earmarked for the mining operations as the pegging has already been completed by the relevant authorities.
“We are also environmentally conscious and therefore we are engaging the Environmental Management Agency to provide us with the necessary guidance in carrying out environmental impact assessments and best mining practices,” he added.
Activities of BCMC, including for trading purposes, shall be done through Mine Trends (Pvt) Ltd, a company duly incorporated in April of 2011 under the Companies Act (Chapter 24:03).
Shareholding would be such that the principal project promoters would get 30 percent, strategic investment partner 30 percent, the Bikita community 25 percent donated for free by project promoters and shares warehoused for other strategic partners, either local or foreign are pegged at 15 percent.
The chiefs expressed hope that the BCMC will bring about positive change to their communities.
“In my area we have been lagging behind in terms of development and our soil is not very favourable in terms of farming activities and I sincerely hope mining can bring about change and development.
“On our priority list is to revamp our road network and also establish an irrigation scheme as most of our people were resettled and therefore have no access to water sources,” said Chief Budzi.
Dr Kereke will initially chair the consortium’s advisory board before eventually handing over to the Bikita chiefs who will then chair on a rotational basis.
Online Reporter