THE Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe and the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) penned a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which seeks to operationalise a centre of excellence promoting discovery, recovery, processing and value addition. The centre will cover mining, metallurgy and geo sciences.
BY FIDELITY MHLANGA
Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe president Batsirai Manhando said on Wednesday that the MoU sought to formalise the symbiotic relationships that exist between the mining industry and the tertiary education institutions in pursuit of advancing the growth of the mining industry.
“There are strong linkages between the mining industry and the human resources development and research institutions like the University of Zimbabwe. The university is part of the supply side of the labour market while we represent the demand side of the same hence both are mutually and jointly indispensable in the existence of our institutions,” he said.
Manhando said labour constituted between 25 and 30% of the total mining industry revenue, hence a significant cost of production and to this end issues of productivity and optimal return on labour costs were of paramount importance.
He said the MoU came in a special way that ensured the players fulfilled the shared vision of sustaining and supporting the anchor role of the industry. Manhando said the MoU would also ensure alignment of the training and research to requirements and modern trends of technology in the industry.
There was also need to ensure the two institutions collaborated in carrying out applied and cutting edge research that addressed challenges facing the mineral industry in Zimbabwe, he said.
“We must collaborate in setting up an industry advisory board for different mineral related departments and any coordinating university programmes to support UZ activities as they relate to the mining industry,” Manhando said.
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“The mining industry through the chamber will continue engaging the UZ in realigning their curriculum and is happy to provide input into the continuous review of the curricula in the mining related departments and can also provide or support with guest lecturers who will give topical lectures at UZ. In addition the chamber will also facilitate attachment of UZ lecturers in its member facilities during the vacation periods to enable them understand problems facing the industry.”
