South Korea keen to invest in Zimbabwe

South Korea has committed itself in investing in Zimbabwe's mining sector, a cabinet official said. Zimbabwe's Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Obert Mpofu said the South Korean ambassador hinted that a number of that country's companies have shown interest in venturing into mining as well as assisting in the mechanization of small to medium scale miners.

“Some investors from South Korea seemed to appreciate the challenges being faced by the small scale miners as well as their potential.

“One of the companies, Trapeace pledged to venture into coal mining and we are seriously considering their proposal as they have also seemed quite serious in mechanizing small scale miners with requisite equipment,” he said.

The minister said there is need to fully-equip the modest miners so as to ensure that they contribute significantly to the turnaround of the country’s economy.

The small scale miners have over the years cited the need to be mechanized so as to ensure effectiveness and high output, stating that in most concession areas, opencast mining had ceased due to the distance covered to reach the deposits, thus leaving underground mining as the only appropriate means of extraction.

The mining sector is also reeling under various challenges. Gold production, in particular, has mainly been constrained by high production costs, power outages and shortage of critical inputs such as cyanide and explosives, among others.

“The mechanization of small scale miners has been long overdue because the country has been bleeding for sometime due to the shortage of foreign currency yet if mechanized small scale miners can increase their production levels,” said the Zimbabwe Miners Federation’s chief executive officer, Wellington Takavarasha.

He said the miners should be allocated compressors, stamp and boll mills, dumpers, generators, water pumps, tractors as well as working capital.

Mining was Zimbabwe's leading industry in 2002, contributing 27 percent of export trade. The chief minerals were coal, gold, copper, nickel, tin, and clay, and Zimbabwe was a world leader in the production of lithium minerals, chrysotile asbestos, and ferrochromium, with more than half of the world's known chromium reserves.

The country was self-sufficient in most minerals, producing 35 commodities from 1 000 mines, mostly small, and exporting 90 percent of its mineral output. The total value of mineral production exceeded US$500 million per year, and the mining sector employed 60 000 people in formal operations.

Source: www.africanews.com

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