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Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
Dewatering of King Mine in Mashava has been completed, paving the way for its re-opening.
Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Ezra Chadzamira, confirmed the development and said the mine, which stopped operations in 2004, would soon be back on its feet.
Government has taken steps to revive the mine after injecting about $20 million in 2018.
Management has also mobilised at least $14 million from the sale of some of its infrastructure to Great Zimbabwe University (GZU).
The funding was channelled towards the purchase of a new pump for the dewatering process, which has taken more than one year.
Minister Chadzamira said the completion of the dewatering process will see the company starting to maintain the machinery in preparation for the commencement of formal operations.
He said before new explorations, the company would work on its dumpsite, believed to be containing a number of minerals besides long fibre asbestos.
The minister said chances were high that Masvingo province would have two big companies, the Cold Storage Company (CSC) and King Mine, being resuscitated by the end of the year.
At least 4 500 people are likely to get jobs from the two entities with the number set to reach about 6 000 when the revived companies operate at full throttle.
“The de-watering process is now complete at Mashava’s King Mine. This has happened on time for the July deadline. By end of this month, we expect the maintenance of machinery to start,” said Minister Chadzamira.
“We expect more than 4 000 people to get jobs at the mine in the next two years. This number can increase to at least 6 000 when operations are at near full capacity. My office will take journalists to tour the mine’s underground next week so that the media could have an appreciation of the work that has been done so far.”
The minister said his province was on course towards addressing devolution needs such achieving a US$5,8 billion Gross Domestic Product(GDP) by 2030 in line with the country’s vision of an upper middle income economy by 2030.
Once King Mine re-opens, the province will have a total of three major companies operating – Tongaat Hulett in the Lowveld and Steel Makers popularly known as SIMBI.
— @walterbmswazie2.
Online Reporter