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Ishemunyoro Chingwere Business Reporter
Government has stepped up efforts for local mineral beneficiation as it continues to build pillars for the attainment of the US$12 billion annual export milestone as well as boost employment from the mining sector and its subsectors.

To achieve this, Government has resolved to reallocate a total of 11 747 hectares of chrome rich land from claims that were initially ceded by Gweru based ferrochrome producer — ZimAlloys.

The claims will be parcelled out on two strict conditions, which are the undertaking to channel all produce to local ferrochrome producers for local beneficiation as well as on condition that they will be immediately put to production in line with Government set timelines.

The plans were revealed by Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando when he addressed a post cabinet briefing on Tuesday in the company of four other ministers.

Under the US$12 billion 2023 milestone, chrome, nickel and steel are expected to contribute US$1 billion in annual exports.

To achieve the US$1 billion, Minister Chitando said there will be a sharp increase in ferrochrome production and subsequent exports thus putting in check the current setup where several producers are still exporting ore.

This is in line with President Mnangagwa’s call for local beneficiation as a means to  maximise on returns as well as creating jobs for locals.

“That US$1 billion will be achieved mostly through a huge increase in the ferrochrome production capacity from a base of about 360 000 tonnes in 2018 to over a million tonnes,” Minister Chitando told the media.

“. . . it means we now require about 2 million tonnes of ore to be able to facilitate that production.

“That will necessitate also a corresponding increase in ore output to feed to support that ferrochrome production.

“All the mining claims which are being released are specifically on two conditions: the ore to be produced from there will not be exported, that ore will all be to feed into the smelters to achieve the projected ferrochrome production.

“Secondly, they all have to be brought into production within specified timeframes to enable for the achievement of the US$1 billion subsector target” he said.

Minister Chitando said Government is currently working on a chrome development policy, which will spell out synergies between                                         chrome miners and smelting companies with these expected to facilitate the easy parcelling of ore to smelting companies.

He said expectation is that this will be ready around mid-year.

Zimbabwe is host to the world’s second largest chrome ore resource holding about 900 million tonnes out of a global estimate of 7, 5 billion tonnes.

The global chrome industry is also taking keen interest in Government’s call for investment in the sector and last year, the  International Chrome Development Association, brought the International Chrome Development Association (ICDA) annual meeting into the country assign that the world chrome sector is ready to do business with Zimbabwe.