By Josephine Mugiyo Diplomatic Correspondent
THE mining industry is set for a major boost in 2022 as it pursues value addition and increased capacity utilisation.
Government has emphasised that the attainment of a 12 billion dollar mining industry is not an event but a process.
Mines and mining development minister Honourable Winston Chitando is upbeat on the prospects of the industry in 2022.
The minister said although the official figures on the 2021 mining performance are yet to be officially released close to 4, 5 billion United States dollars was brought in revenue streams, noting that 2022 should witness further growth
“ZCDC did exceptionally well in diamonds, their target for 2022 is even higher , we expect them to produce even higher , and also murowa diamonds they commenced the 450 million US dollar expansion project and their plant should be commissioned . So diamonds are well on course,” said Winston Chitando, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development.
Minister Chitando added that some major initiatives will soon be announced towards value addition of diamonds
“We will witness a number of increased percentage of diamonds being value added locally,” said the Minister.
The consolidated carbon steel project is also part of government’s initiative to maximise on value addition before export.
“The consolidated carbon steel project is a typical example of value addition , because the inputs into carbon steel include iron ore , which is value added , coking coal which is being value added and ferrochrome which is being value added as well and so that’s huge value addition which will be taking place,” explained the Minister
The government ban on export of chrome concentrate with effect from 2022 is another positive for the mining sector
“Government banned export of fero chrome immediately, then government banned the export of fero chrome which takes effect this year and what has happened there is going to be a huge increase. Zimasco has announced that they are moving from a capacity of 150 000 tonnes to 420 000 tonnes. Have another 5 ferrochrome projects coming up this year,” said Minister Chitando.
Gold output is also expected to increase this year on the back of increased capacity by big mining entities and small scale miners.
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