Gweru_ ONE of the country’s largest ferrochrome producers, Zimbabwe Alloys (ZimAlloys) is on a major resuscitation drive which saw the commissioning and re-opening of the M1 furnace after the take over by Kuvimba Mining House (KMH) in 2021 following the mine’s slip into judicial management in 2013, Express Mail Zim can report.
In a tour of the mine in Gweru Thursday, Zim Alloys managing director and KMH head of bulk metals Deric Dube told Express Mail Zim that production was now in full swing bolstered by the re-opening of the M1 blast furnace.
He said Zim Alloys was sitting on about one million tonnes of dump material of chrome which they began to work on .
“We did some surveys and discovered that these dumps are still mineralised, which was of interest to us as a company. We then quantified these dumps.
“We ran about five tests with a company that then produced the processing plant to retract and upgrade these dumps in South Africa,” he said.
“We acquired the majority stake in Zim Alloys. So, 85% of ZimAlloys is now owned by Kuvimba Mining House and 15% is owned by a minority foreign partner.” he said.
Adding :
“We want to have all furnaces in operation in a projected period of 18 months and we have started smelting after 11 years.
“Having a basket of different alloys is advantageous.”
After snapping Zim Alloys and sourcing for funding from foreign partners, KMH commited the funds to clear ZimAlloys’ foreign and domestic debts and also paid up salaries to resume operations on a new page and motivate the staff complement of 348 employees .
Before KMH take over, Zim Alloys has been dormant and had ageing furnaces , debts, and a wage bill backlog.
The level of investiment hovers around US$40 million in both the North and South clusters accross the Great Dyke.
