adminLovemore Zigara Business Correspondent
THE country now has the potential of exploiting two thirds of its chrome reserves following the introduction of new technology to smelt chrome fines, Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa has said.
He said the country was sitting on one billion tonnes reserves of chrome of which two thirds were not being exploited as the technology in the country could not beneficiate chrome fines.
Minister Chidhakwa’s comments follow the recent launch of the Africa Chrome Fields (ACF) Exothermic (Alluninathemic) Chrome Smelting Plant in Zibagwe which can now smelt chrome fines more efficiently.
“We want to work together with this company so that the project can be a success. It’s estimated that the country is sitting on over one billion tonnes of chrome ore reserves.
“Chrome fines constitute two thirds of the reserves. Technology which we had could only smelt chrome lumps and therefore we couldn’t deal with chrome fines.
“So the coming of this project is welcome because we can now smelt chrome fines. This is in line with our Zim-Asset blueprint of adding value to our natural resources,” said Minister Chidhakwa.
He said the country would safeguard the technology so that it fully benefits from it.
Director of Africa Chrome Fields, a subsidiary of South Africa based Fanshawe Holdings, Zunaid Moti, said his company was investing $200 million towards the project which would employ 600 workers on completion.
The project is expected to take 11 months to be fully operational.
Exothermic (Alluninathemic) technology has the capacity to smelt chrome concentrate in about a minute from the average of six hours which is being used by other smelters in the country.
The technology, which does not use electricity, produces high quality ultra-low carbon ferrochrome which will fetch around $2,85 per pound on the international market as opposed to the current smelting technology which sells at 0,85c per pound.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter