Use or lose concessions, mining companies told

Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
Government has adopted a policy of “use it or lose it” for companies allocated mining concessions, as it ramps up efforts to achieve a $12 billion mining industry by 2023, Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando has said.

Government has been upgrading security and rights for those who are mining their concessions, to ensure investors are confident when sinking their capital into a mine, but now wants to implement its rights to put claims held for speculation back into the pool so that others prepared to convert a concession into a working mine can do so.

The mining sector is a critical foreign currency generating stream, contributing about 70 percent of the country’s forex earnings and the projected growth by 2023 represents a more than four-fold increase from the US$2,7 billion achieved in 2017.

By 2030, Government expects that the mining industry will be generating upwards of US$20 billion.

On Tuesday, Minister Chitando reiterated that the $12 billion mining industry by 2023 target was achievable.

“All concessions which are not being worked on are slowly subjected to use it or lose it,” he said. “Whoever has got a concession that is not being worked on, certainly they will lose that concession.”

Mining companies in general have to process the ore they mine, at least in part, before export.

For most companies, this is a cost-saver, slashing transport costs, and for Zimbabwe it creates more value and more jobs.

Minister Chitando tabled before Cabinet proposals for the re-allocation of chrome mining claims on Tuesday, which were ceded by Zimalloys.

The claims will be reallocated to other companies which will receive mining claims to sustain and expand ferrochrome production.

Briefing journalists on this development, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said: “As per Government policy, 20 percent of the ceded claims, being 2 348 hectares of the total ceded claims which are a total of 11 747 hectares, will be allocated to war veterans.

“The modus operandi of the distribution of claims to war veterans will be announced in due course.”

She said Minister Chitando briefed Cabinet on the establishment of five gold milling centres that would be followed by an additional 20 centres and implementation of an credit scheme by the Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe for small scale miners.

All the interventions that Government is undertaking in the mining sector are aimed at attaining an upper middle income economy by 2030 in line with President Mnangagwa’s vision. Several mining projects are at various stages of implementation, including the US$2 billion Great Dyke Investment platinum deal and the US$4,2 billion Karo resources project in Mhondoro.