Zimbabwe Hwange Colliery plans to ship coal through Maputo

Friday, 21 Oct 2011

Bloomberg cited Mr Oliver Maponga Business Development Manager as saying that Hwange Colliery Ltd Zimbabwe largest coal miner plans to ship 30,000 to 50,000 tonnes of coal a month through Mozambique’s port of Maputo.

Mr Maponga said Hwange is in talks with port authorities after starting to use Mozambique central Beira port last year. The company which produces 400,000 tons of coal a month is studying markets in India China and Western Europe.

(Sourced from Reuters)

Zimbabwe gives foreign firms 14-day empowerment

Fri Aug 19, 2011

By Nelson Banya, Reuters

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has given foreign firms, including mines and banks, a 14-day ultimatum to submit "acceptable" plans on how they propose to transfer majority stakes to local owners or risk losing permits, state media reported on Friday.

The firms include platinum miners Zimplats, which is majority owned by Impala Platinum (Implats), and Mimosa, Implats's 50-50 joint venture with Aquarius Platinum. Others include Rio Tinto's Murowa diamond mine, British American Tobacco and local units of British banks, Standard Chartered and Barclays.

The companies risk losing their operating licences if they do not submit the ownership plans, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere wrote to the firms on July 28, informing them they had failed to provide acceptable details of how they proposed to transfer 51 percent shareholdings to local people within the five years stipulated by the law, the newspaper said.

In March, Kasukuwere gave mining firms 45 days to file empowerment plans and imposed a September 30 deadline for the transfer of ownership.

The deadline to submit empowerment plans has since passed.

Last month, Kasukuwere told a conference the government had rejected 175 empowerment plans from mines which mostly proposed selling 25 percent shareholdings, with 26 percent being made up of credits awarded for social investments made in infrastructure, health and education facilities.

Zimbabwe's coalition government set up by President Robert Mugabe and his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai two years ago following disputed elections is divided over the implementation of the empowerment law, enacted in 2008 and championed by the president's ZANU-PF party.

Tsvangirai has warned that the law threatens Zimbabwe's economic recovery, which started after the formation of the power-sharing government in 2009, following a decade in which GDP shrank by as much as 50 percent, according to official figures.

Zimbabwe considers dumping US Dollar for Chinese Yuan

August11, 2011

Zimbabwe is considering adopting the Chinese Yuan or the South African rand in the wake of the United State’s debt problems. The southern African country adopted the use of multiple currencies in 2009 after its dollar was rendered unusable by hyperinflation. However, the US dollar has been the biggest circulating currency in the country followed by the rand.

Following the downgrading of the debt of the US last week by the Standard & Poor (S&P) rating agency, Zimbabwean officials have been calling for a rethink on the use of the dollar.

S&P dropped the US’s rating to AA+ from the top rating, AAA, based on a lack of confidence that Congress and President Barack Obama will resolve their stalemate on how to address America’s worsening debt situation. Zimbabwean officials say this will have an effect on the US dollar which will in turn negatively impact the country’s economy. Killer Zivhu, president of the Zimbabwe Cross Border Association, said if the Yaun was adopted it will come as a big relief to members of his association who buy most of their merchandise from China. “We would rather officially adopt the Yuan or South African rand. The
 dollar is exposing us to unfair business practices,” Zivhu said.

Last September, Vice President Joice Mujuru said Zimbabwe should
 consider adopting the Chinese Yuan, in line with the country’s policy
 of using multiple currencies to tackle hyperinflation.

 Mujuru said adopting the Yuan would be a "natural progression and
 offshoot of the Look East policy,”

China has already called for a new global reserve currency to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country.

 China is the U.S. government’s largest single creditor, with over $1
trillion locked in treasury bonds as well as more than a trillion in other
 dollar-denominated assets.

But Tony Hawkins, a professor of economics at the graduate School of Management at the University of Zimbabwe said “there is no 
obvious alternative to the US dollar.” “There is no such thing as a stable currency in the markets,” Hawkins said. “At present the Euro, British Pound and Chinese Yuan are also shaky.


“Unfortunately for Zimbabwe we are caught up in the financial mess and
 we have to live with it”.

(sourced TheAfricaReport)

S.Africa tumbles as mining investment destination

New Fraser Institute survey puts Zimbabwe just four places lower

Mar03, 2011
By Allan Seccombe, Business Day

SA SLID further down the country rankings in the prestigious Fraser Institute’s latest survey measuring the attractiveness of governments’ mining policies.

The Department of Mineral Resources has set its sights on correcting perceptions about SA as an investment destination. But the country’s rankings in the survey published yesterday dropped to 67 out of 79 countries from last year’s position of 61 out of 72 .

SA was ranked this year only four places higher than Zimbabwe. In 2008, SA ranked 49 out of 71 countries.

The Vancouver-based institute based its findings on responses from 494 exploration, development and mining-related companies around the world .

While a surge in metal prices has made miners optimistic about business prospects, many respondents are concerned about a growing trend of resource nationalism and new mining taxes .

The institute described its policy index as a "report card to governments on how attractive their policies are from the point of view of an exploration manager".

"For virtually every jurisdiction there is a feeling that things are getting worse, as opposed to better," said Fred McMahon, co- author of the report.

In June, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said: "We have set a target for SA to improve the negative perceptions of its regulatory framework, from the current Fraser Institute level of 61 out of 72 countries to feature within the top quartile by 2014."

The Department of Mineral Resources yesterday declined to comment on the latest survey.

"We’ve not seen the complete report and we need to analyse it before we can comment," said department spokeswoman Zingaphi Jakuja. "We are not privy to their methodology."

In June, the government, labour and mining companies agreed on a strategy to grow and transform the mining sector.

They set up the Mining Industry Growth, Development and Employment Task Team (Migdett) to identify the bottlenecks that caused SA to miss out on the commodity boom that ended in late 2008 and to devise strategies to ensure it does not miss the next boom.

The strategy has begun unfolding, with the department ending a moratorium it placed on accepting prospecting rights until it completed an audit of licences granted since May 2004 and cleaned up its database.

An online system to lodge and monitor mining and prospecting rights was unveiled last month and Ms Shabangu said amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act aimed at weeding out ambiguities would be finalised this year.

The mining sector grew 6% last year, albeit off a low base set in 2008, when electricity constraints battered the industry, and 2009, when the effects of the global financial crisis were felt.

"I think there is a very definite timing mismatch between the survey and the things that are taking place in the Migdett process," said Roger Baxter, chief economist at the Chamber of Mines and a member of the task team.

"The survey has come at a time when a lot of work is being done to turn the sector around. There’s constructive discussion going on to resolve constraints.

"We’ll start seeing some good progress in the next six months to a year. Hopefully in the next Fraser rankings we’ll be a bit higher up the pecking order."

Zimbabwe diamond, coal exploration fees soar

Wed Feb 9, 2011
HARARE Feb 9 (Reuters)-Zimbabwe has drastically increased exploration fees for diamonds and coal, in an effort to discourage companies from speculating on mining claims, state media reported on Wednesday.
The state-owned Herald newspaper said the exploration fee for diamonds had increased twenty-fold, to $1 million, while the coal fee went up five-fold to $100,000 from $20,000.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu could not be reached for comment.

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines said the increase was unexpected but would not say whether it would impact new investment in the resource-rich nation.
"We were not consulted about it and this is quite a hefty increase," Chris Hokonya, the chamber's chief executive, told Reuters.
The government has said many companies hold mining claims for speculation and the increase in exploration fees is seen as discouraging the practice.
Global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote) (RIO.AX: Quote) is just one of the foreign companies mining diamonds in the southern African nation.
The government last year announced it would nationalise all alluvial diamond mining operations, mostly in the eastern Marange district, while handing management contracts to private companies.
(Reporting by Alfonce Mbizwo;editing by Keiron Henderson,sourced:reuters)
Tags:Zimbabwe, coal exploration fees, diamond exploration fees, Herald newspaper, mines minister, The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines,investment, Rio Tinto

Essar Africa inks deal to take control of ZISCO Steel

Monday, 07 Feb 2011
It is reported that Zimbabwe has inked a USD 28 million deal which saw the Mauritian firm, Essar Africa, assume control of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company.
Essar Africa acquired 54% shareholding in the company from the Zimbabwe government.
After the signing ceremony, Industry and Commerce Minister Mr Welshman Ncube said “The work begins now to restore Zisco Steel to the giant that it was before it was bled to the ground by corruption and mismanagement. We believe we have signed the best deal for the company, and the country.”

The deal at one time hit a snag when Dutch bank, ING, demanded that the USD 28 million Essar was due to pay to the government be used to settle a USD 28 million debt the bank was owed by the state run fixed telephone line company, TelOne.
At its peak Ziscosteel used to produce close to a million tonnes of steel a year, but operations have virtually ground to a halt and most of its 4,000 strong workforce retrenched.(sourced:Newzimbabwe.com)

POSCO to form mining JV with Anchor Holding in Zimbabwe

Sunday, 30 Jan 2011

POSCO announced that it has signed an initial agreement with Zimbabwe's Anchor Holdings to set up a mining joint venture to develop minerals in the African country.
POSCO plans to launch the mining company in Zimbabwe some time in the first half at the earliest to develop chrome, coal, iron ore and other minerals.

The agreement comes as a result of POSCO CEO Mr Chung Joon-yang's trip to four African countries last week, aimed at securing resources from the continent.
(Sourced from DJ)