Chrome plant creates 300 jobs
OVER 300 people are set to be employed in Zvishavane when Government commissions a chrome smelting plant in Mapanzure as part of the value addition and beneficiation thrust.
The Mapanzure smelter will create at least 300 jobs directly while 3 000 others will be created through downstream and related industries and will be commissioned in February next year.
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Engineer Fred Moyo confirmed the development.
He said the Mapanzure smelting plant was one of the four plants Government was setting up along the Great Dyke as part of the value addition and beneficiation thrust.
He said currently it was difficult to beneficiate chrome due to prohibitive transport costs from mining areas which makes it uneconomical hence the setting up of the smelting plant.
“We decided to directly invest in Zvishavane and then allow the exploitation of chrome in Mberengwa, Zvishavane and Chivi. This is what culminated to the smelter that we have put up in the Mapanzure area. It is set for commissioning next February and will use around 6 000 tonnes of chrome ore per month, but we want that to go up four times which means we will be requiring 30 000 tonnes per month. Over 300 jobs will be created at the plant while a further 3 000 jobs will be created in downstream industries,” he said.
Eng Moyo said there were three other sites along the Great Dyke where Government was going to set up the smelting plants to make chrome production economic.
“We have been failing to benefit from chrome fully because our smelters are located in the middle of the country that is Kwekwe and Gweru. When you want to move chrome ore from Mberengwa to Gweru or Kwekwe it is difficult to get there because of prohibitive transport costs,” said Eng Moyo.
He said Government was bringing a washing plant to Zvishavane in the next six weeks.
The washing plant will be able to receive the chrome ore for washing before it is fed into the plant.
Shortages of smelters in the country have been hindering production and growth in the chrome mining sector.
The developments come as the chrome sector has been on a growth trajectory which has seen the 400 thousand tonne production target Government set at the beginning of the year being surpassed.