Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
Zimpapers Correspondent
Government is finalising negotiations with private investors to establish multi-million-dollar coal-to-fertiliser plants in a major policy move aimed at ending the country’s perennial reliance on imported agricultural nutrients.
The initiative seeks to capture industrial gases produced during coal mining — previously treated as waste — and process them into Ammonium Nitrate (AN) and Urea.
Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Engineer Caleb Makwiranzou, confirmed that several companies have expressed interest in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to set up facilities in the coal-rich regions of Sengwa, Chiredzi, and Beitbridge.
He made these remarks during a Senate question-and-answer session while clarifying the Government’s policy on converting coal into fertiliser.
“Government is indeed doing something about it,” he said. “There are some companies that are interested in a public-private partnership with Government to manufacture fertiliser from coal.
“There is already an interest in Sengwa. In Sengwa, we have coal. There is interest in Chiredzi where we also have thermal coal. Indeed, there is interest in Beitbridge. Government is currently talking to them and we hope that they will be able to set up facilities to manufacture fertiliser from coal.”
The move is expected to drastically lower production costs for farmers and save millions in foreign currency.
Currently, coal production for coking and thermal power generates volumes of hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. In standard mining operations, these gases are “flared” or burned off into the atmosphere.
Under the new industrial roadmap, these gases will be harvested through complex gasification and separation facilities.
“When we want to make fertiliser, we capture these gases and use them to produce ammonia using free nitrogen,” the Deputy Minister said.
“Our top dressing is actually ammonium nitrate. We mix this with phosphates to make Ammonium Nitrate and urea-fed life.”
