Zimbabwean companies should invest in the latest technologies so that they can compete with other entities targeting the country’s chrome resources, Kuvimba Mining House head of bulk commodities Deric Dube has said.
Zimbabwe has been exporting its chrome ore to several countries due to its inability to process alluvial chrome deposits.
Addressing journalists touring the recently resuscitated ZimAlloys furnaces in Gweru recently, Dube said there was need for companies to invest in research and technology to exploit the resources.
ZimAlloys was under judicial management from 2013 to 2021 and Kuvimba Mining House in December acquired the majority stake in ZimAlloys with 85% owned by the government entity while 15% is owned by a minority foreign partner.
However, some companies are targeting chrome concentrates while Zimbabwean companies process lumpy ore because of lack of the necessary equipment.
“The bulk of the furnaces in Zimbabwe are either open or semi-closed and can take a certain amount of the finer materials that is below 10mm because that clogs the furnace and causes eruptions when fed into them.
“So there is a need to upgrade our plants to ensure that we can process these concentrates in our plants across the country,” he said.
Dube said Kuvimba had invested quite a significant amount to resuscitate ZimAlloys to be able to start from a clean slate.
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“Basically, we've been able to paint our own picture and grow our business without the burden or the hold back of having to pay back debts,” he said.
Dube said ZimAlloys was operating in specialised markets to produce a different basket of ferro-alloys and concentrates and ores.
“That requires placing in probably the premium markets that can achieve the best prices given the cycle that the chrome market is in at the particular moment,” Dube said.
“We've restarted three chrome concentrator plants, which has almost doubled what our production was this time last year.
“So this is expected to revive the business and strengthen it to the place where it needs to be and beyond what it used to be.
“We have also restarted smelting after almost 11 years of no smelting happening here. The smelters in Zimbabwe were closed in 2013.”
Dube said there were plans to set up in-field furnaces in various areas across Zimbabwe.
“But in a broad spectrum, in a nutshell, we want to be punching above the weight of most of the ferrochrome producers in the industry at this particular moment, because we do have the resources to support that.
“Our desire to bring in all these technicians who will be able to activate that resource in the best possible manner means that we need to have all these furnaces in operation.
“Our plan and target is to eventually get to 120 000 tonnes per annum of high-carbon ferrochrome production and then to restart all the other smelting operations of other different alloys.”
