Russia, Zimbabwe to launch platinum field in 2018

VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, May 4 (PRIME) -- Russia and Zimbabwe will start industrial development of platinum at a U.S. $1.6 billion.Darwendale field in 2018, project operator CEO Igor Khiger told reporters on May 1, while Minister of Mines Walter Chidakwa said that there will be no work for uncut diamond giant ALROSA in the short term.

Khiger said: “The roadmap of the project foresees that we will start to make concentrate in 2018. We are sure that we will manage to fulfill everything by that time. Industrial development will start in 2018 and we will have finished building industrial capacities by then.”

The Russian consortium developing the field comprises industrial giant Rostec, Vnesheconombank and VI Holding. It also owns 50% in operator called Ruschrome Mining.

Zimbabwe will consolidate ownership of diamond field licenses into a single state-run company. Chidakwa said that Russia’s ALROSA could participate in the development of diamonds in Zimbabwe once alluvial diamond reserves drain, and development of diamonds in pipes begins.

The country is also interested in ALROSA’s diamond marketing expertise, he said.

Joint venture DTZ-OZGEO which is now developing the Chimanimani diamond deposit can exchange its license for a gold mine one when Zimbabwe consolidates all diamond deposits in a single company, Chidakwa said.

Zimbabwe is offering Russian companies to participate in the development of rare earth metals, methane and in the production of steel, Chidakwa said separately.

“We have all ingredients to produce alloy steel. We have iron ore, chromium, nickel, coking coal. We used to have a metal-making plant, it was dismantled. We think that we can resume steel production,” Chidakwa said.

The minister said that Zimbabwe has significant resources of lithium, rock wood and that it can produce more nickel.

Russia’s Uranium One Group expressed interest in the Zimbabwean mining assets, according to documents of the intergovernmental commission.

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