News / Regional
Mega industrial city for Lupane
05 May 2013 at 06:09hrs | Views
Another seemingly ambitious plan for Matabeleland region has once again been revived.
Following years of recommendations and studies on possible projects to tap into the huge coal deposits in Matabeleland North, another long-forgotten project appears to be taking off the ground.
The concept, which is still about 95 percent on paper, if implemented, will turn Gwayi and Lupane into mega hubs of energy generation and industrial development.
Projections are that by 2015, areas such as Gwayi and Lupane, lagging behind in terms of development, will never be the same again.
Sitting on huge coal reserves estimated at over seven billion metric tonnes, recent discoveries of deposits of gold and other precious minerals, a lucrative game and tourism sector, untapped water flowing freely along the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers and an abundance of labour, Matabeleland region has no excuse to be poor.
Despite several masterplans that are gathering dust in many Government offices, the region has failed to realise its greatest potential for over a century.
The situation has been exacerbated by the closure of companies in the industrial hub of Bulawayo, over the last two decades, rendering inhabitants of the drought-prone region a desperate lot.
But with progress now being registered on the Zambezi Water Project, to draw water from the Zambezi River in Matabeleland North Province to Bulawayo and subsequently Matabeleland South Province and recently the new coal projects taking shape, the transformation of this region is fast becoming a reality.
But locals hope that this is not yet another false start. Work is already in progress to set up coal-driven industrial plants in Gwayi and Lupane in a development whose effects will be felt at national level.
According to geological experts, the country boasts of vast reserves of coal, particularly in the north-west and southern parts of the country. Hwange Colliery Company is the only coal-producing mine in that part of Zimbabwe at present.
Following failure by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to lure potential investors to tap into the recently discovered coal-bed methane gas in Matabeleland North, the Government has now engaged private players.
According to an exploration exercise conducted by the IDC, extensive deposits of coal-bed methane gas in the Hwange-Lupane basins are estimated to be over 23 billion cubic feet per square mile or 27 trillion cubic feet.
The exploration concluded that key requirements for extracting the gas such as content, coal seam thickness, lateral continuity, high gas saturation and adequate permeability have been discovered to be better than those from commercially producing basins in the United States.
Currently, Discovery Investments Company is understood to have completed its exploration exercise on about 100 000 hectares and will soon establish mini plants to produce coal-bed methane gas.
The company was last year given the go-ahead to conduct coal-bed methane gas exploration in Mzola and Dandanda communal lands in Lupane and Binga districts.
Investigations by The Sunday Mail In-Depth have established that another local consortium, Old Stone Investment, and China-based investor Shandong Taishan entered a 50-50 agreement to establish an investment vehicle, China Africa Sunlight.
Under the joint company, operating under Government special grant 5 538 project number 5 478, over US$2,1 billion will be invested in the next five years to set up seven state-of-the-art industrial plants in the Gwayi and Lupane areas with projected gross revenue running into several billion of dollars annually when the projects are completed.
In the process, about 4 500 jobs will be created with downstream economic activities such as fertiliser production, tar for road maintenance, construction bricks and agriculture set to be revitalised.
On the other hand, about US$1 billion is set to be pumped into Bulawayo companies in the next two years as the projects turn to Zimbabwe's second capital as the nearest source of various materials and inputs.
With a concession of about 100 000 hectare covering areas such as Gwayi, Lupane Hwange, Victoria Falls, Kamativi, Binga and Sengwa, China Africa Sunlight will soon establish an underground coal mine, powergeneration station, coal-bed methane plant, chemical industrial plant, ash brick project, washing coal plant and a coking coal plant.
The annual output from the underground mine has been pegged at three million tonnes with annual gross revenue of about US$4,5 billion.
Some of the coal will be fed to the power-generation plant expected to produce 400 megawatts per day and channelled to the national grid, realising between US$250 million and US$300 million in revenue.
The Zimbabwe Power Company says Zimbabwe currently produces about 1 000 megawatts of electricity and suffers a shortage of an average 20 percent and this has resulted in power cuts, especially among domestic users
But with the coal-bed methane plant on the cards, affordable gas for domestic use and conversion into diesel will ease the national demand.
Energy experts say Matabeleland North Province holds vast deposits of coal-bed methane gas ' some of it estimated to be 95 percent methane.
The proposed coke plant will be capable of producing about 300 000 tonnes of coke, a product of coal baking in a conditioned oven at high temperature, estimated at US$350m to US$400m per year.
According to the plan, a washing coal plant, a facility that adds value by removing soil and rock particles from the coal, will be constructed with an annual production of at least one million tonnes.
According to the China Africa Sunlight site engineer, Jun Ma, about 80 percent of the exploration has been completed, with six mining rigs having been spatially established on the 100 000-hectare concession.
"The deposits are satisfactory, we have been drilling between 200 and 300 metres underground to collect samples and we are happy with the progress. We hope to complete exploration by the end of this month and from there the actual mining will commence," said Eng Jun through an interpreter, Nick Shang.
"We have completed most of the necessary regulatory requirements and we only wait for the mining environmental impact assessment evaluation."
Investigations have established that initially the company had targeted open-cast mining, but due to environmental concerns, it will resort to mining.
While some sections view the ambitious projects as an opportunity for the region, others think otherwise.
Some businesses in the tourism sector fear the mining activity will affect their operations.
"We have gathered that the concessions encroach into our areas of operation and safari companies are the most affected. It means that while on one hand we will be boosting other sectors, on the other hand we are destroying tourism.
We all have national importance and there is need to dialogue to reach a 50-50 situation," said one wildlife and safari operator in the Hwange area who preferred not to be named.
On the other hand, locals feel they will only be hired to provide "cheap labour".
"They talk of employing our children. Yes, a number of them have been employed, but what pains us is that they do menial jobs and are paid peanuts. These companies have a tendency to eye people in Harare for the best paying positions. So what is the benefit?" quizzed a visibly angry elderly man, Mr Rixon Sibeko.
However, the Old Stone managing director, retired Colonel Charles Mugari, said while it was not their aim to dislodge other business ventures, the concessions had been pegged after a thorough consideration.
"This is a national project. Those who are operating in the game reserve must understand that our aim is not to dislodge them, but I think the Government conducted its assessment and saw the mining activities as a viable option. It is not like everyone is being told to vacate, only a few will be affected."
A team from the Zimbabwe Geological Survey was in the area last week, to try and ascertain some of the factors that will determine the full scale exploitation of the mineral resources.
According to the World Coal Association, coal is likely to remain the most affordable fuel for power generation in many developing and industrialised countries for decades.
"Coal will play a major role complementing renewable energy sources. It will be one of the key sources of energy to address gaps in wind and solar-powered electricity, both of which include risks of intermittent supply," said the association
For many years, Matabeleland region has been seen to be lagging behind in terms of development.
This is despite the vast resources in the region. But with mega projects being established, it is hoped the area will realise its potential and transform the livelihoods of millions of people.
Following years of recommendations and studies on possible projects to tap into the huge coal deposits in Matabeleland North, another long-forgotten project appears to be taking off the ground.
The concept, which is still about 95 percent on paper, if implemented, will turn Gwayi and Lupane into mega hubs of energy generation and industrial development.
Projections are that by 2015, areas such as Gwayi and Lupane, lagging behind in terms of development, will never be the same again.
Sitting on huge coal reserves estimated at over seven billion metric tonnes, recent discoveries of deposits of gold and other precious minerals, a lucrative game and tourism sector, untapped water flowing freely along the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers and an abundance of labour, Matabeleland region has no excuse to be poor.
Despite several masterplans that are gathering dust in many Government offices, the region has failed to realise its greatest potential for over a century.
The situation has been exacerbated by the closure of companies in the industrial hub of Bulawayo, over the last two decades, rendering inhabitants of the drought-prone region a desperate lot.
But with progress now being registered on the Zambezi Water Project, to draw water from the Zambezi River in Matabeleland North Province to Bulawayo and subsequently Matabeleland South Province and recently the new coal projects taking shape, the transformation of this region is fast becoming a reality.
But locals hope that this is not yet another false start. Work is already in progress to set up coal-driven industrial plants in Gwayi and Lupane in a development whose effects will be felt at national level.
According to geological experts, the country boasts of vast reserves of coal, particularly in the north-west and southern parts of the country. Hwange Colliery Company is the only coal-producing mine in that part of Zimbabwe at present.
Following failure by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to lure potential investors to tap into the recently discovered coal-bed methane gas in Matabeleland North, the Government has now engaged private players.
According to an exploration exercise conducted by the IDC, extensive deposits of coal-bed methane gas in the Hwange-Lupane basins are estimated to be over 23 billion cubic feet per square mile or 27 trillion cubic feet.
The exploration concluded that key requirements for extracting the gas such as content, coal seam thickness, lateral continuity, high gas saturation and adequate permeability have been discovered to be better than those from commercially producing basins in the United States.
Currently, Discovery Investments Company is understood to have completed its exploration exercise on about 100 000 hectares and will soon establish mini plants to produce coal-bed methane gas.
The company was last year given the go-ahead to conduct coal-bed methane gas exploration in Mzola and Dandanda communal lands in Lupane and Binga districts.
Investigations by The Sunday Mail In-Depth have established that another local consortium, Old Stone Investment, and China-based investor Shandong Taishan entered a 50-50 agreement to establish an investment vehicle, China Africa Sunlight.
Under the joint company, operating under Government special grant 5 538 project number 5 478, over US$2,1 billion will be invested in the next five years to set up seven state-of-the-art industrial plants in the Gwayi and Lupane areas with projected gross revenue running into several billion of dollars annually when the projects are completed.
In the process, about 4 500 jobs will be created with downstream economic activities such as fertiliser production, tar for road maintenance, construction bricks and agriculture set to be revitalised.
On the other hand, about US$1 billion is set to be pumped into Bulawayo companies in the next two years as the projects turn to Zimbabwe's second capital as the nearest source of various materials and inputs.
With a concession of about 100 000 hectare covering areas such as Gwayi, Lupane Hwange, Victoria Falls, Kamativi, Binga and Sengwa, China Africa Sunlight will soon establish an underground coal mine, powergeneration station, coal-bed methane plant, chemical industrial plant, ash brick project, washing coal plant and a coking coal plant.
The annual output from the underground mine has been pegged at three million tonnes with annual gross revenue of about US$4,5 billion.
Some of the coal will be fed to the power-generation plant expected to produce 400 megawatts per day and channelled to the national grid, realising between US$250 million and US$300 million in revenue.
The Zimbabwe Power Company says Zimbabwe currently produces about 1 000 megawatts of electricity and suffers a shortage of an average 20 percent and this has resulted in power cuts, especially among domestic users
But with the coal-bed methane plant on the cards, affordable gas for domestic use and conversion into diesel will ease the national demand.
Energy experts say Matabeleland North Province holds vast deposits of coal-bed methane gas ' some of it estimated to be 95 percent methane.
The proposed coke plant will be capable of producing about 300 000 tonnes of coke, a product of coal baking in a conditioned oven at high temperature, estimated at US$350m to US$400m per year.
According to the plan, a washing coal plant, a facility that adds value by removing soil and rock particles from the coal, will be constructed with an annual production of at least one million tonnes.
According to the China Africa Sunlight site engineer, Jun Ma, about 80 percent of the exploration has been completed, with six mining rigs having been spatially established on the 100 000-hectare concession.
"The deposits are satisfactory, we have been drilling between 200 and 300 metres underground to collect samples and we are happy with the progress. We hope to complete exploration by the end of this month and from there the actual mining will commence," said Eng Jun through an interpreter, Nick Shang.
"We have completed most of the necessary regulatory requirements and we only wait for the mining environmental impact assessment evaluation."
Investigations have established that initially the company had targeted open-cast mining, but due to environmental concerns, it will resort to mining.
While some sections view the ambitious projects as an opportunity for the region, others think otherwise.
Some businesses in the tourism sector fear the mining activity will affect their operations.
"We have gathered that the concessions encroach into our areas of operation and safari companies are the most affected. It means that while on one hand we will be boosting other sectors, on the other hand we are destroying tourism.
We all have national importance and there is need to dialogue to reach a 50-50 situation," said one wildlife and safari operator in the Hwange area who preferred not to be named.
On the other hand, locals feel they will only be hired to provide "cheap labour".
"They talk of employing our children. Yes, a number of them have been employed, but what pains us is that they do menial jobs and are paid peanuts. These companies have a tendency to eye people in Harare for the best paying positions. So what is the benefit?" quizzed a visibly angry elderly man, Mr Rixon Sibeko.
However, the Old Stone managing director, retired Colonel Charles Mugari, said while it was not their aim to dislodge other business ventures, the concessions had been pegged after a thorough consideration.
"This is a national project. Those who are operating in the game reserve must understand that our aim is not to dislodge them, but I think the Government conducted its assessment and saw the mining activities as a viable option. It is not like everyone is being told to vacate, only a few will be affected."
A team from the Zimbabwe Geological Survey was in the area last week, to try and ascertain some of the factors that will determine the full scale exploitation of the mineral resources.
According to the World Coal Association, coal is likely to remain the most affordable fuel for power generation in many developing and industrialised countries for decades.
"Coal will play a major role complementing renewable energy sources. It will be one of the key sources of energy to address gaps in wind and solar-powered electricity, both of which include risks of intermittent supply," said the association
For many years, Matabeleland region has been seen to be lagging behind in terms of development.
This is despite the vast resources in the region. But with mega projects being established, it is hoped the area will realise its potential and transform the livelihoods of millions of people.
Source - sundaymail
