After months of preparation, the Manganese Mining company established by ZCCM IH has finally commenced operations in Serenje.
“ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc (ZCCM-IH) through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kabundi Resources Limited has started mining manganese with a targeted production capacity of 20, 000 tonnes per month by the end of the year”, according to information shared with Financial Insight from ZCCM IH on 20th July 2020.
“ZCCM-IH has so far invested an initial amount of approximately 1.5 million United States Dollars that has gone towards setting up of the site infrastructure, such as a weighbridge and offices, and the resettlement of nine project affected households”.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Group Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mateyo Kaluba, toured the mine site and expressed happiness with the commencement and the progress made in developing the project.
Speaking when he toured the manganese mine in Serenje today, Mr. Kaluba said it is gratifying to see that ZCCM-IH is now living to the expectations of its shareholders by developing a wholly-owned new mine.
IDC is keen on the success of this latest venture. The IDC CEO indicated that he expected ZCCM IH to continue to participate across the mining value chain. This not only improves the value preposition for ZCCM IH but also enables one of the key mandates of IDC that seeks to create jobs for Zambians through its diverse portifolio.
ZCCM-IH Chief Executive Officer Mr Mabvuto Chipata said the Company is repositioning itself to have more control, and drive growth in developing the mining sector in the country. According to the CEO, ZCCM IH’s new strategy is to position itself as a mining conglomerate that seeks mining opportunities beyond copper.
ZCCM IH has also indicated that “apart from the commencement of the mining operations, a new wash plant is being set up, and plans are also underway to set up a smelter to ensure value addition to the raw manganese”.
Phase one of the manganese project is expected to be fully operational by mid-August 2020. This particular investment is a key milestone for CEO Mabvuto Chipata as this particular investment’s explored mine area has approximately 1.6 million tonnes of manganese ore reserves with a mine life 5 years, according to sources close to the matter.
“Manganese is the 12th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, with the element seeing huge global demand thanks to its many and varied applications in the production of steel and high-capacity batteries”, according to NS Energy. “About 18.5 million tonnes of manganese are produced globally annually and demand for the silvery-grey metal has been growing significantly in recent years.”
At present, South Africa, Australia, China, Gabon, and Brazil are among the top producers of manganese in the world.