happiness Chikwanha
Business Writer
At least 450 people have been employed at Great Dyke Investments (GDI)’ US$2 billion Darwendale platinum project that is now at mine construction phase that include two portals which are at different stages of completion.
The 450 employees are part of the 4000 jobs the mining firm intends to employ when operating full throttle by 2022.
Of those employed, 70 are fulltime workers of the Russian mining behemoth, while the remainder are engaged by sub-contractors who are partaking in the mine construction works.
The creation of these jobs, which are expected to top 4 000 at the turn of 2022, is a culmination of a deliberate strategy by President Mnangagwa’s administration that identified job creation as one of its key result areas.
Speaking during a tour of their operations on Thursday, GDI chief operating officer, Munashe Shava, said the miner has registered extensive progress in its mine development and is confident they are on course to get to full production and have concentrate plant in 2022.
The timing will see GDI coming on stream to feed into the 2023 mining sector milestone, which seeks to attain US$12 billion in annual exports up from US$2, 7 billion attained in 2017.
“As you can see, we are at different stages of construction for the two mining portals that will anchor our phase one,” said Mr Shava.
“In terms of employment, we now have about 70 fulltime GDI employees and a further 380 or so who are with our contractors.
“The reason why the bulky of them are from contractors, is our business is to mine and process platinum, we are not yet at that stage, at the moment we are still working on the portals. So these services we are making use of is not something that we will continue to require in the life of the mine.
“But these numbers are set to multiply as we get into production where we will need about 4 000 employees,” he said.
To achieve this, President Mnangagwa is on record saying Zimbabwe will pursue an open for business strategy that will drive private sector investment and thus increase job creation.
Mining and agriculture have been identified as major sectors to spearhead quick economic turnaround.
The Darwendale Platinum Project is poised to transform Zimbabwe to top global Platinum Group of Metals (PGMs) producers. Current bankable feasibility studies on the back of extensive exploratory work have shown that the two mining portals currently under construction, have the potential to produce the equivalent of at least 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum producer – Zimplats.
Accommodation facilities
In anticipation of the 4 000 employees that will work on the mine from 2022, GDI is in advanced discussion with various stakeholders among them Chegutu Rural District Council with a view to get land on which to construct accommodation facilities that will cater for the employees.
Because of the high number of the houses needed, the miner has decided against constructing the houses in its concession and thus the need to find alternative land.
Mr Shava said the mine has been getting tremendous support on this front and is confident that construction work of the accommodation facilities will commence soon.
With the mineral rich concession having been pegged on land that was housing resettled farmers, they are also negotiations to have the farmers moved again and one has already been affected by work on the two portals and a further 24 are set to be affected as well.
Bongani Ndlovu