adminLatwell Nyangu
One of Zimbabwe’s major gold producers, Ming Chang Sino Africa has, brought cheer to Manicaland’s Odzi area six months after starting major road rehabilitation and community projects.
The company has spent at least US$150 000 rehabilitating a 15km stretch linking the Harare-Mutare highway and business centres around the area.
Mine director, Liu Xialong, said development involved resurfacing and improving drainage.
“The road in this project is from the riverside and goes beyond our mine and shopping centre. It is at least 15km, and the cost of the project is about US$10 000 per km,” he said.
Xialong said management was in discussions with the community for other projects as part of its corporate social responsibility.
“We started operating last year in June with help from the community and we owe them.
“We are in discussions with local authorities for borehole projects, starting with three that are being finalised.”
Currently, at phase one, the mine employs 50 people with the majority being from the local community.
The mine’s target is to employ about 300 people in the third and final phase.
Xialong, however, bemoaned the heavy rains for disrupting operations.
He said the mine has the capacity to process 10 000 tonnes of ore a month, but this had been significantly reduced by heavy rains.
“Exploration work will be carried out to guide the expansion initiative and our next development depends on quality of deposits.
“We are currently doing open cast mining and it’s cheaper in terms of production costs, but the cost will rise as we go deeper.
“Indications are that these are very good deposits and the mine life is quite long. We are prepared to invest millions in this project, but I can’t give you the specific numbers at this stage,” he said.
Xialong said the company had 16 claims.
Online Reporter