Small-scale chrome miners clinch $10m orders from SA, Mauritius

Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
FOREIGN companies from South Africa and Mauritius have placed orders for chrome worth $10 million from local small-scale miners following the lifting on the ban of chrome exports by Government three months ago. In an interview, Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) chairman responsible for chrome Mr Masimba Chandavengerwa said the Government was already negotiating with Mozambique to ensure that they reserve bays for ships that would transport the chrome ore to Mauritius.

Government set up a SPV taskforce comprising Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) to handle the mining and exporting of the mineral by small-scale miners.

“As SPV we are making necessary arrangements to ensure that we start exporting chrome ore by next month. At the moment I am in Beira in Mozambique where I am engaging the responsible authorities at the port so that they clear some of the docking bays for us to pave way for the exportation of chrome. We are getting a positive response.
“We have orders from Mauritius and South Africa that we are hoping to start delivering in two weeks,” he said.

Mr Chandavengerwa said Zimbabwe has received an order of 480 000 tonnes from foreign buyers which will see the country generating $10 million from the sales.
He said the country intends to export 30 million tonnes of chrome ore in the next 15 years.

“The challenge that we have now is that the ports that we are going to use have no capacity to move such huge volumes of chrome ore. So we might be able to export two million tonnes every year. However, if we manage we will be able to increase the quantity once the ports open other docks,” he said.

The country has over 2 000 small-scale chrome miners of which 10 percent are independent while 90 percent are on tributes and/ contract mining with Zimbabwe Mining and Smelting Company (Zimasco) or Zimbabwe Alloys Ltd (Zim Alloys).

This has been a stumbling block for many small-scale miners in benefiting from the lifting of the ban on the exportation of chrome ore.
Small-scale miners may export their chrome ore or concentrate through a special purpose vehicle, Apple Bridge Investments.

Government lifted a four-year ban on chrome exports which was imposed in 2011 as a way of promoting value addition of the mineral.
Announcing the lifting of the ban, Government also reviewed the royalty fees for chrome ore from two percent to five percent while export tax of 20 percent was removed to allow chrome ore producers to generate income to increase smelting capacity.
Zimbabwe is estimated to hold the second largest chrome ore reserves in the world after South Africa.