Online Reporter
George Maponga in Masvingo
The new Zimbabwe Zhongxin Chrome Smelting plant in Mashava is now producing 1 500 tonnes of ferrochrome every month.
The increase in output has seen the ferrochrome producer increase the number of its permanent employees to over 200.
Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Ezra Chadzamira said the plant is a boon for small-scale miners in the chrome-rich Mashava area.
Addressing participants attending a media workshop organised by Zimcodd on the province’s strides towards growing its Gross Domestic Product to US$8 billion by 2030, Minister Chadzamira said the chrome project is spurring socio-economic growth.
“The project has also empowered women, youths and war veterans by granting them mining claims on land previously designated for exploration prospecting orders,” he said.
The ferrochrome plant was commissioned two years ago, and this threw a lifeline to thousands of small-scale miners in Mashava and surrounding areas.
The company invested around US$70 million as a result of the Second Republic’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra.
