Sundaymail Editor
Online Reporter
The groundbreaking ceremony of a new iron ore mine and carbon steel plant by Tsingshan – the world’s largest steel producer – will be held in July at Manhize in Mvuma, marking the beginning of a major project expected to cut steel imports into Zimbabwe – estimated at US$1 billion per year – and significantly increase exports.
The Chinese multinational company has already made headway in preparation for the major project.
Its local-based ferrochrome unit, Afrochine, which has been operating in Zimbabwe for the past decade, completed two new furnaces in Selous in April, while its coal subsidiary – Dinson Colliery – completed the construction of a 150 000-tonne coke oven battery in the Hwange in the same month.
Construction of a new 150 000-tonne coke oven battery also began this month.
In November this year, Tsingshan will begin constructing a 600MW power plant in Hwange.
Chrome, nickel, iron ore, coal and electricity are critical ingredients in the manufacture of steel.
A new iron ore mine could not have come at a better time, as prices of the metal have been rallying on the global market.
Underlying the immensity of the project, Cabinet said in a statement on Monday an inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has since been set up to coordinate the consolidated mining project.
The other ministries include: Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development; Energy and Power Development; Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement; Local Government and Public Works; Finance and Economic Development; and Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage.
The initial agreement signed in 2018 between Government and the Chinese firm included chrome, nickel, iron and coal concessions.
However, a new deal signed in April 2019, which expanded the scope of project, made provision for a 600-megawatt power plant.
Overall, the scope of activities – notably covering a two-million tonne steel facility in Mvuma, of which one million tonnes will be carbon steel while the remainder will be stainless steel – is valued between US$5 billion to US$10 billion.
Tsingshan expects the projects to create about 30 000 jobs both upstream and downstream.
Online Reporter