Mining Rakes in $16 Trillion

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) February 8, 2006  02/13/2006

ZIMBABWE earned close to $16 trillion from mineral production last year, according to figures released by the Chamber of Mines. Gold stood at 14 023 kilogrammes, raking in about $4,8 trillion of the total deliveries. This represents a 37 percent decline of the yellow metal output from total production achieved in 2004 of 21 342kg. Smuggling of the precious metal has largely been cited for the decline in gold earnings -- the country's second highest foreign currency earner after tobacco. Platinum contributed $3,1 trillion from 4 833kg. Platinum is expected to surpass gold in revenue generation as a result of the continued firming of prices of the "white metal". Zimbabwe has the second largest deposits of platinum in the world after South Africa, with estimated reserves of 2,8 trillion tonnes lying in the Great Dyke. Palladium recorded $570 billion from 3 878kg of output while asbestos recorded $647 billion with volumes of 122kg. Rhodium contributed $555 billion to the figure with a total of 404kg output in production. Copper, on the other hand, realised a total volume of 2 569 kilogrammes, which amounted to $207 billion in the twelve months. Coal contributed $547 billion to the amount with a total volume of 2 890 622kg for eleven months of last year. However, some of the minerals did not have the figures for the whole year as the Chamber of Mines was still in the process of compiling the figures. The mining sector is also expected to contribute about 4 percent of the gross domestic product(GDP) and a third of the country's foreign exchange receipts. Investment in the sector is expected to increase on the back of a huge interest in local mining companies by some Asian investors from China, Iran, Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2005 the mining industry faced viability problems due to high inflation that hindered new investments in the sector. This year the State is expected to implement the black empowerment policy. The proposed charter provoked an outcry from both local and foreign mining firms after authorities indicated that they wanted locals to acquire 49 percent stakes in majormines. The charter is expected to help locals to acquire significant stakes in mining companies as well. The mining sector has been robbed of more than US$100 million worth of minerals last year. These minerals have been smuggled to South Africa where they would be shipped to various international markets. A number of new expansion projects are earmarked for the sector next year with foreign investors, particularly from China and India, showing interest in the sector. The country has large deposits of gold, platinum, nickel, chrome and diamonds. Enditem