A SOUTH African investor has signed a five-year deal with Zimasco, which will see the reopening of three chrome smelting furnaces which were shut down early this year.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Portnex International entered into a five-year lease with Sino Zimbabwe, Zimasco’s major shareholder, which will see the creation of 600 jobs.
Speaking during a tour of the company by Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa, Portnex International managing director Frikie Laubscher said his company would commission the first furnace in February next year, while the other two would be brought on line in March.
“We have an operating philosophy which we think will be viable and we also have specific markets in Europe which are not being serviced by Zimbabwe which will sustain our operations,” he said.
Chidhakwa said Portnex International would invest $12 million to reopen the defunct West Plant and resuscitate mining operations which were previously being run by Zimasco, but had been shut down owing to falling prices on global markets.
“I am told the investor has set aside $12 million for the reopening, but we are saying to them they should look into the people who were working for Zimasco and were retrenched with the view to employing them so that we don’t lose the skills,” Chidhakwa said.
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Zimasco retrenched a total of 645 workers in October and just last week sent another 553 workers on compulsory leave after shutting down its two furnaces at its East plant.
Kwekwe Plant general manager Blessing Chitambira said the workers had been put on half pay until the end of the first quarter in line with provisions of the Labour Laws.
Zimasco general manager (technical) Regis Matshiya said the company was forced to shut down owing to depressed metal market prices which fell from $1,40 an ounce early this year to 90 cents last month.
“Zimasco made a decision to shut down the last two furnaces because it was no longer viable to continue operating at those prices. We are hopeful that during the second quarter of the year prices will have gone up and we will resume operations,” he said.
Matshiya said Zimasco had not totally closed shop but was still operating its dump site recovery plant and, therefore, continued trading and the company would use that money to settle the debts.
“We have debts and we have payment plans which we have put in place, the company continues to trade and we will be using that money to settle the debts,” he said.
The minister, who was accompanied by his deputy Freddy Moyo, said government was worried about the safety of mine workers and urged Portnex International to put the lives of its workers first.
Zimasco conceded the company was yet to pay retrenched workers their dues, but refused to shed light on when the payments would be made.
