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Dosman Mangisi Mining Correspondent
SCORES of small scale chrome miners are in a fix as they cannot sell their produce at competitive prices four months after the government lifted the ban on the raw export of the mineral.
Following the lifting of the ban, the government put in place a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is not yet operational, giving miners the green light to sell their produce at competitive prices to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ).
However, close to 80 percent of independent chrome producers cannot sell to MMCZ due to binding contractual supply agreements they signed with big smelting firms such as Zimasco and ZimAlloys.
Discussing during a stakeholders’ macro-economic workshop in preparation for the 2016 national budget in Kadoma yesterday, miners queried why it was taking so long to export raw chrome after the lifting of the ban.
MMCZ officials who attended the meeting admitted the chrome sub-sector was still mired with numerous challenges concerning the trading of the mineral.
It also emerged the SPV for MMCZ to buy up to 500,000 tonnes of chrome ore from small scale miners, was ineffective in the absence of a Statutory Instrument revoking the tributary agreements with smelting firms.
MMCZ deputy head of marketing Masimba Chandavengerwa said: “We’re having challenges on the SPV emanating from our producers and smelters. We’re in catch 22 situation as of now. The issues are mainly on pricing the chrome ore”.
He said there was discord between producers and smelters.
The miners said while they wanted to sell their ore directly to the lucrative foreign market, they could not do so because of the tribute agreements.
derick.khumalo