The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Company (ZITF Co) marked the week that its Mining Engineering and Transport (MineEntra) exhibition was supposed to be held by hosting a virtual conference on the mining industry last week. The show was set to be held last month but could not, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Running under the theme, The future of Zimbabwean Mining Industry post-COVID-19, the virtual conference’s main presenters included the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Mining Development, Onesimo Moyo, Fidelity Printers and Refiners Head of Gold Development Initiative Fund, Matthew Chidavaenzi and Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines President, Elizabeth Nerwande.
According to a report by Economic Times Zimbabwe, Nerwande highlighted that when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, jobs were going to be cut and planned capital projects put on hold. She indicated that although the power supply situation had improved lately due to low demand, the challenge would persist.
Nerwande stated that the ferro-chrome was the hardest hit by the pandemic amid expectations of an early rebound. She said that that platinum and gold mines were operating at near full capacity buoyed by the firming in metal prices.
The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines boss bemoaned supply chain challenges affecting the industry as some companies had closed and boarders were closing at different times which hampered spares availability and restocking efforts.
Chidavaenzi highlighted that the country needed to re-open and revive some closed mines in order to transform the mining sector into a US$12 billion industry by 2023. He urged mining stakeholders to strive to increase the installed capacity of the mines that were currently functioning. He singled out the gold sector which he said had the potential of achieving 100 tonnes per year from the current figures of 25 to 30 tonnes of gold annually.
The panel agreed that small scale miners needed to be capacitated so that they could grow and produce more. They also agreed that the sector needed US$1 billion for working capital and re-tooling purposes “o increase output.
MineEntra is the second show that the ZITF Company could not hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. In April it postponed its flagship exhibition, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair when Government put it on hold as part of COVID-19 measures at the end of March. The mining show was supposed to run from 22 to 24 July 2020.