daniel chigunwe
Business Writer
The Kamativi Mining Company (KMC) says construction of its phase two processing plant is making headway, with completion now scheduled for September 2024.
KMC had initially projected completing phase two construction by June 2024, with a trial run set for July 2024.
“While we had not anticipated delays in the final stages of phase two construction, we encountered an unforeseen change in maritime transport, leading to a slight delay in the installation process of the project.
“We have therefore deferred phase two commissioning to September 2024,” the company said in a statement.
Following construction, the commissioning phase commences, and this involves rigorous testing and verification of the processing plant’s systems, machinery and processes to ensure they function as intended.
“It’s the final checkpoint before we operationalise our phase two spodumene plant,” reads the statement.
KMC said it anticipates the phase two project to deliver its first output during the last quarter of 2024.
The designed ore processing capacity for the plant is set to process 2 million metric tonnes of ore into 300,000 metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year.
Last year, KMC completed construction of phase one of the processing plant, which was officially commissioned by President Mnangagwa on December 23, 2023.
Phase one has a production capacity of handling 300,000 metric tonnes of ore and producing 50,000 metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year.
“When both phases of our processing plant are complete, we will have a combined annual production of 2,3 million metric tonnes of ore producing 350,000 metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate and that concentrate will be exported,” KMC said.
KMC is a joint venture (JV) operated and controlled by Sichuan PD Technology Group, a subsidiary of a Chinese-listed entity, Yahua Group.
The local joint venture partner is Kamativi Tin Mines Limited, wholly owned and controlled by Mutapa Investment Fund through Defold Mine (Private) Limited.
Yahua Group is ranked 5th in the world for being a top lithium hydro-peroxide and explosives supplier.
The Group has over 6,000 employees in 70 subsidiaries distributed throughout Australia, China, Ethiopia, Namibia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Bongani Ndlovu