Staff Writer

Lephalale Mining, a South African (SA) firm is finalizing a USD$400 million mining deal with the government to explore the Platinum Group of Minerals (PGMs) located in the SnakeHead area of Muzarabani.

The latest half a billion-investment deal comes as the region is beginning to warm up to the Second Republic’s call for investment in the country’s extractive industry.

The mining company which is a subsidiary of Lephalale Construction Company revealed its enthusiasm after a tour of the targeted investment area in Muzarabani last week.

“A familiarization tour was done to the Great Dyke by the officials from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and the Laphalale investment team last week, and investors were happy about the potential and geological rock type found in the targeted area.

“The company is willing to pump in US$400 million, which translates to R6 billion for this establishment,” said Brian Chibvongodze, the business development officer.

The company’s geologist also indicated that before concluding the deal, the company required about four weeks to produce a fact-finding report on the visit before consulting with directors in SA on the way forward.

As a show of commitment, Lephalale is said to have since opened a subsidiary mining company in Zimbabwe, Vakundi Holdings, with paper work from Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) on course.

Vakundi Holdings will be getting funding from Public Investment Company.

Zimbabwe expects a surge in foreign currency earnings from the mining sector this year, and has set an ambitious target to grow the mining sector to a US$12 billion industry by 2023.

The mining economic growth plan is part of the broader macroeconomic roadmap towards an upper middle-income economy by 2030.