Kuvimba to lead Zisco revival

Kuvimba Mining House, which has both private and State shareholding and has been resuscitating gold mines, has been chosen by Cabinet as the investment partner for the resuscitation of the Redcliff-based Ziscosteel.

This follows intense due diligence and meticulous screening of nine prospective partners that had showed interest before Government settled on one of Zimbabwe's biggest mining firms.

This was announced by Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Monitoring Implementation of Government Programmes, Dr Joram Gumbo, who was filling in for Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa, who is away on official duties, at a post Cabinet meeting briefing in Harare yesterday.

"Accordingly, Cabinet approved that Kuvimba Mining House be engaged as the investment partner for the resuscitation of Ziscosteel. The nation is advised that Kuvimba Mining House is a reputable player in the mining and metals sector.

"Cases in point are the recent resuscitation of Jena and Shamva Gold Mines in Mashonaland Central, which has resulted in the company remitting a dividend to Treasury," said Dr Gumbo.

Last year, Kuvimba Mining House paid an inaugural US$5,2 million dividend to Government and some of its local shareholders following a positive performance.

Already Kuvimba, in which the Government is a significant shareholding, owns some of the country's most valuable mining assets cutting across a range of minerals including gold, platinum, nickel and chrome.

Dr Gumbo said a report on the resuscitation of Ziscosteel was presented in Cabinet by Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza.

Cabinet, said Dr Gumbo, noted that due process was undertaken for the identification of an investor to partner in the operationalisation of Ziscosteel.

He said the standard process to find an investor for Ziscosteel was undertaken under the guidance of Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency with input from the State Enterprise Restructuring Agency.

"The nation is advised that initially, nine prospective investors expressed their interest and after a review by the executive management team, four bidders were shortlisted.

"Furthermore, due diligence exercise was carried out and the bidders were reduced to three. Out of the three, Kuvimba Mining House was recommended," he said.

Dr Gumbo outlined other joint ventures that were approved by Cabinet.

They included a joint venture between TelOne, Flashcord and the National Venture Capital Company of Zimbabwe to form the Zimbabwe Innovation and Technology Company (Zitco) to manufacture ICT appliances.

"To date, a total of 3 500 have been manufactured with production expected to reach 5 000 at the end of the year. The economic benefits of the joint venture are as follow: over 2 000 jobs will be created at the plant and local production of devices will result in import substitution thereby saving foreign currency.

"The targeted export market includes Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique and exports are estimated to generate US$25 million in the first three years (2022-2024).

"Strengthening of local industries through use of local labour and materials will promote both upstream and downstream industries," he said.

Cabinet also approved a five-year joint venture between Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and Chandiwana Mines for the resuscitation of Sabi Gold Mines where the investor would provide working capital with ZMDC's contribution of mineral material resources resulting in production of 1 428kg of gold.

Another joint venture will be a partnership between ZMDC and Govine Enterprises for the resuscitation of Shamrock Copper mine expected to produce 34 200 tonnes of copper per year generating an annual revenue of US$45 million.

Samano Holdings would be engaged by Mazowe rural district council in mining of limestone at Dandamera farm in Mashonaland Central.

Cabinet also approved 340 priority projects for the first 100-day cycle of 2022 across all provinces.