eBusiness Weekly
BH24 Reporter
HARARE – Yantai JinAo Mining Group Co Ltd is looking to $300 million in mining projects focusing on the processing of refractory ores.
In this regard, the company says it wants to revive the mothballed Kwekwe roasting plant.
Said Yantai JinAo Zimbabwe manager Musorowegomo Mukosi:
“JinAo has an interest in processing the roasting plant dumps in Kwekwe, and other refractory ores. In that regards, JinAo has collected samples from the Kwekwe roasting plant for testing, and ascertained what is contained in the dump, in terms of impurities.
“We have the capacity of establishing a processing plant to efficiently, sustainably and profitably recover gold from the dump.”
Since the closure of the Kwekwe roasting plant in 2000, several Zimbabwean mines that had refractory ores ceased operations.
Mukosi said revival of the Kwekwe roasting plant can spur the opening of several closed gold mines.
“Setting up a facility local will provide a nearby facility for processing refractory gold concentrates thus spurring re-opening of many closed mines thereby. Our coming into the Zimbabwe mining space will provide environmentally-friendly technology for processing refractory gold flotation concentrates.
“The concentrates will be generated from mines mainly in the Midlands, Kadoma, Matabeleland North and other areas in Zimbabwe or the SADC region that may have such ores.
“Zimbabwe has huge gold resources locked deep in refractory ores. These ores contain huge amounts of sulphur, arsenic, antimony and other deleterious elements difficult to separate using the conventional gold processing technology,” he said.
“JinAo plans to invest $300 million in Zimbabwe for the initial nationwide phases, comprising of $200 million in fixed assets, and $100 million in working capital. The specific amounts will be determined after JinAo’s initial field visit and in-depth interactions with relevant units in Zimbabwe.”
The group said it has demonstrated its technologies to the Ministry of Mines, the Environmental Management Agency and Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
The mining group was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Yantai City, Shandong Province in eastern China.
The company has a registered capital of RMB100 millon yuan, a total investment amount of RMB700 million yuan, of which the investment in fixed assets stands at rmb250 million yuan, with an annual output of 6,5 tonnes of gold.
It is one of the several companies that meet with President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the sidelines of FOCAC 2018, expressing interest to invest in Zimbabwe.
The miner has projected that from the Kwekwe roasting plant dump, there can be recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and other meatls, according to a sample collected on site.
In recent years, Zimbabwe and China have strengthened their bilateral ties through such vehicles as the Belt and Road Initiative, and JinAo will be looking to capitalise on this vibrant relationship.
