Business Writer
Zimbabwe’s mining industry remains strong and the desire to invest in the sector by local and foreign investors is high, according to Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando.
Chitando revealed this in an interview with journalists following a dinner organised by the Government in partnership with some local investors at the recently held Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.
The mining industry is one of Zimbabwe’s major mainstays expected to anchor the economy towards Vision 2030.
“We are on a journey towards the 2030 Vision, of Zimbabwe becoming an upper middle-income economy and it’s defined by the income per capita — and income per capita you need increased investments and productivity.
“So, the focus of the event (dinner) was really interaction with investors (current and potential investors) to try and get additional capital to expand our industry,” he said.
Over the past few years, Zimbabwe has witnessed a surge in investment in the mining sector with several companies investing heavily in exploration, expansion and plant construction.
The increase in investment is attributed to several factors including the Government’s supportive policies, the discovery of new mineral deposits, and the strong global demand for minerals.
“Today (during the event) working together with some of our existing investors, notably Kuvimba Mining House, we have managed to put together a dinner which has been attended by over 90 people — the turnout was fantastic, the appetite to invest and expand in our industry is absolutely great,” said Chitando.
Zimbabwe is endowed with abundant mineral resources ranging from gold, platinum, diamond, lithium, chrome and coalbed methane gas, among others.
The country has over 60 recorded minerals but only 10 are being actively extracted.
The rest will be mined once there is sufficient exploration and resource definition.
Of late, there have been calls in the sector to incentivise exploration activities to unlock the discovery of more minerals as the mining industry is a vital cog to sustainable socio-economic development in Zimbabwe.
Exploration data is considered vital for attracting investors and determining the amount of resources to be committed towards exploiting a mineral.
The absence of exploration work over the years has seen the country failing to determine the extent of its entire mineral wealth.
