adminWalter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
Platinum producers including Zimplats are engaged in consultations to come up with beneficiation investment strategies in line with Government’s directive to export only value-added products.
The move is expected to increase revenue in the wake of depressed global mineral prices. Zimplats managing director Mr Stanley Segula confirmed the development saying the operating environment called for innovation and investment in current technologies.
“We have been challenged as the PGM (Platinum Group Metals) by the Minister of Mines Cde Walter Chidhakwa to invest more in platinum beneficiation,” said Mr Segula.
“We are committing ourselves as platinum producers. There is a number of us, we have a committee that will look into that request from Government and see how we can initiate the process”.
Towards that goal, he said Zimplats is in the process of reactivating the base metal refinery mothballed during the BHP era.
Minister Chidhakwa, who was speaking during a recent commissioning of Chinhoyi University of Technology library extension, said that platinum producers will be engaged to come up with a fund to support value-addition and beneficiation research.
“It is good for our country, our universities, Zimplats and others for a fund targeting research into how we can beneficiate our minerals and add value to them,” he said.
He said technology is evolving and there is need for research into ways of reclaiming valuable mining dumps which could not be sufficiently mined owing to inappropriate technologies.
Online Reporter