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The tour was at the invitation of Essar Steel, whose parent company Essar Global acquired a significant stake in NewZim Steel, formerly the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company.
The tour was meant to determine the possibility of Hwange supplying Essar Global with coking coal, coke and thermal coal.
The two also explored the possibility of exporting coal waste and gas, a by-product of coke, which Essar requires for power generation.
Essar is a global conglomerate with interests in mining, steel manufacturing, oil and gas, power generation, shipping ports and logistics.
“During the visit, the board chairman and managing director studied technologies used in various Essar operations to understand the quality of the product they need in the event the company gets orders,” said Hwange spokesman Mr Burzil Dube in a statement.
“They (Mr Moyo and Mr Mutamangira) were also interested in the type of machinery that is currently being used by Essar Steel in their open-cast mining operations especially the mechanised truck and shovel method.”
Essar manufactures its own equipment such as dump trucks, bulldozers and other related mining machinery which can also be used by Hwange through joint venture initiatives, added Mr Dube.
Mr Moyo said the visit was successful in that both parties agreed to co-operate in areas of coal mining, gas exploration and marketing of coal.
“The visit was successful. It bordered on three main aspects, which include supplying coke, coking coal and thermal coal to Essar and the possibility of exporting waste coal, which they use for electricity generation. We also looked at the possibility where they can use our coke oven gas for generating power,” said Mr Moyo.
Two months ago, Mr Mutamangira said: “We are trying to look at an integrated relationship with Essar ranging from enhancing capacity utilisation, marketing of coal and generally revamping of supporting infrastructure such as rail.”
Analysts said if the coal supply negotiations with Essar succeed, it would boost Hwange’s export base as the Indian firm operates a number of steel plants across the world.
Currently, the main export markets for Hwange include Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi.
Essar has been analysing the quality of Hwange coal over the last three months and results have been very encouraging. Hwange is considered to have world class coal deposits.
A full recapitalisation of about US$175 million is, however, required to boost production.
The coal miner, whose shares trade on the stock exchanges in Zimbabwe, Johannesburg in South and London, is talking to the Development Bank of Southern Africa for a loan to recapitalise the business.
Online Reporter