THE Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) will be transformed into an exploration company that will quantify the country’s mineral reserves and deposits, Mines and Mining Development minister Walter Chidakwa has said.
BY TARISAI MANDIZHA
The new company, Minerals Exploration Promotion Corporation (MEPC), will be funded from part of the revenue generated from minerals shipment last year.
Chidakwa said the government had approved the transformation of the MMCZ into an exploration company with the aim to facilitate growth in the sector.
“When the MMCZ was established, the key thing was to market our minerals and today we don’t market our minerals, we get constant agreement. So there is no role for us to actually look for markets. They contest for a 35% of the $2 billion revenue generated by the mining sector in 2014,” Chidakwa said.
“This money is supposed to go into marketing and we said no, let the greater part of this money go into exploration then we can develop our mining sector.”
Chidakwa said the new company would be tasked with facilitating the growth of mineral export receipts while embarking on a nationwide exploration of mineral reserves and deposits.
MMCZ was established through an Act of Parliament and began operations in March 1983. It is 100% owned by the government and falls under the ambit of the Mines and Mining Development ministry. It is an exclusive agent for marketing and selling of all minerals produced in Zimbabwe except silver and gold.
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In his 2015 National Budget presentation, Finance and Economic Development minister Patrick Chinamasa said the government had proposed to set aside $3 million towards exploration activities during 2015.
“I am, therefore, pleased to report that the amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act are currently being finalised with their promulgation expected in 2015. This will pave way for the operationalisation of the exploration company, among other measures,” Chinamasa said.
He said the government had already acknowledged the need for setting up of an exploration company in order to overcome the challenges that the country was not fully knowledgeable about the extent of the value of its mineral resource base, adding that this inevitably resulted in poorly negotiated contracts, potentially prejudicing the benefits accruing to the State and its citizens.
