Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. MIDLANDS Provincial Affairs minister, Owen Ncube, has launched a US$300,000 gold milling and processing center in Shurugwi in an effort to promote formal mining operations in the mineral-rich region.
The Shurugwi Community Empowerment Trust Gold Milling and Processing Center, a project funded and donated by Chenxi Chengetai Investments, is expected to transform the livelihoods of artisanal and small-scale miners by providing affordable and accessible services at a time the district has been identified as a hotspot for illicit activities.
Speaking at the official handover on Tuesday, Ncube said the project not only showcases Chenxi Chengetai Investments’ robust corporate social investment programs but stands as a sign of strengthening Sino-Zim relations.
“This transformational event showcases yet another milestone community empowerment initiated by the second republic and comes at the backdrop of the election of His excellency the President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“I commend Chengetai Investments for spearheading responsible mining in the midlands province and advancing Zimbabwe China bilateral mining agreements,” said Ncube.
He also said that the facility is a key part of the government’s formalisation trajectory aimed at ensuring youth empowerment and economic growth.
“Shurugwi community empowerment trust gold milling and processing center entrenches the second republic’s formalization of the informal sector trust which empowers youth to contribute effectively towards the mining sector which underpins the midlands provincial gdp (gross domestic product) at 36 percent,” said Ncube.
“Furthermore this center provides accessible, affordable and efficient milling services for small-scale miners who were paying exorbitant processing fees.”
Ncube added that the initiative is set to boost national security and social cohesion amidst the fight against drug and substance abuse.
“Shurugwi district is known as a drug and substance abuse hot spot and some of them (drug peddlers) are here, so our mining communities should be protected and empowered to desist from the drug and substance abuse menace,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chenxi Chengetai Investments general manager Simon Karimanzira said the facility is the third and final phase of the establishment’s holistic empowerment initiative designed to ensure small-scale miners receive the actual value for their product.
“This milling center is supposed to ensure that our small-scale miners have access to affordable milling facilities where they are not ripped off by would-be unscrupulous millers, mining is already hard work and imagine being subjected to exorbitant milling fees.
“That will leave you in most instances in a deficit, so we want to make sure that our millers or our miners have meaningful empowerment where they actually are left with surplus rather than a deficit of their product,” Karimanzira said.
He called for strict adherence to the country’s regulatory frameworks and urged the government to move swiftly to establish satellite gold buying centres at the extraction point.
“According to the Mines and Minerals Act of Zimbabwe and in accordance with our laws, all gold recovered should be sold through Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
“And now that there is an extraction point, the government is going to establish satellite gold buying centres where licensed buyers should be the ones who are going to buy this gold.
“So, it is our fervent hope as a company that Fidelity will move in swiftly once the centre is up and running, now that it has been commissioned and established satellite gold buying centres,” he said.
Addressing the critical issue of power supply, he confirmed the facility is currently run by a heavy-duty 500kVA generator, noting that the company has donated 2,000 litres of diesel as initial capital.
The newly commissioned plant features high-capacity machinery, including almost five-ton rod mills, backed up by 3.5-ton hammer mills, complete with recovery tanks and secure carbon rooms designed for efficient gold trapping and 24-hour operation.
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