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From Gabriel Masvora in Hwange
LEADING coal miner Hwange Colliery Company has started pursuing other business initiatives among them being directly involved in power generation as it seeks to expand its portfolio buoyed by anticipated increase in production. At the moment HCCL was only mining and supplying the coal to Zimbabwe Power Company’s main power station in the mining town and the small power stations in Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare for power generation.
However, HCCL managing director Mr Thomas Makore told a gathering witnessing the commissioning of 24 mining equipment acquired from India and Belarus under a more than $30 million vendor financing deal in the mining town on Friday that the company was now initiating new business ventures.
“We will venture into power generation in collaboration with ZPC,” he said.
Apart from power generation, HCCL is also aiming to venture into the relatively virgin business of gas exploration in the Hwange area.
Gas energy is seen as the future of Zimbabwe with estimates showing that most parts of Matabeleland North have huge deposits.
However, numerous efforts to tap into the energy have not been fully undertaken.
“We also intend to do the conversion of coal to liquids for the production of both diesel and ammonium nitrate.”
If successful, this would save the country millions of dollars in fuel import as the country has been solely dependent on fuel imports.
At the moment Hwange Colliery is solely into mining of coal and partially beneficiating it although in some cases the beneficiating efforts have been affected by plant failures.
The company is doing underground and open cast mining, coal handling, coke manufacture, coke oven gas and other by-products.
Mr Makore said part of the new business plans were also due to the fact that production was set to increase due to the recapitalisation efforts at the company.
“With a current production capacity of 40 percent producing an average 300 000 tonnes per month, we expect our production capacity to significantly improve to 450 000 tonnes per month amounting to an annual coal production close to six million tonnes per year once we start utilising the new mining equipment being commissioned today,” he said.
Speaking at the same occasion, Mines and Mining Development Minister Cde Walter Chidakwa said the Government was aware of the diminishing coal reserves for Hwange and was in the process of finanalising the granting of new concessions to the company.
“Let me assure you that Government will soon announce the granting of a new concession for Hwange,” he said.
Cde Chidakwa said Government was always supportive of the initiatives at Hwange because of the strategic nature of its operations to the economy.
“The objective is to ensure sustainable coal and coke deliveries to all sectors of the economy and maximise on foreign currency earnings for the country.”
He also promised that Government would want to work with the other shareholders to clear the debt owed by Hwange so that it can be able to concentrate on serious production and be able to repay the loans secured in buying equipment.
Representatives of BELM and BELAZ, the two suppliers of the equipment, are also at the company teaching Hwange employees how to maintain and operate the machines.
The machines include huge excavators and dump trucks.
Online Reporter