Works at the manganese mine in Serenje have commenced following the end of the heavy rains that had hampered kick-starting operations, posing a challenge in accessing the mine site areas, the ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc (ZCCM-IH) has said.

ZCCM-IH Public Relations Manager Loisa Kakoma reviewed that the company through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kabundi Resources Limited (KRL) is already on-site to commence the initial works of the project.

“We have started the first phase of the project in the small-scale mining license, with an initial capital injection of K18.6 million,” Ms. Kakoma said.

She added: “Phase two of the project which is scheduled to start before the onset of this year’s rainy season will be extended to other areas of the ZCCM-IH Large Scale Exploration area in Serenje.”

Ms. Kakoma also disclosed that ZCCM-IH plans to spend a total of K4.5 million to fulfill the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) obligations, which are scheduled to be handed over to the beneficiaries in June 2020.

“RAP involves the construction of an additional one-by-two classroom block, a health center, nine-by-three bedroomed houses for the relocation of the project affected families, one house for a teacher, and another house for a medical staff,” She added.

She also stated that the RAP project has so far employed over 20 locals and added that KRL will further employ over 150 youths at the mine site as production scales up upon relocation of the affected families.

The ZCCM-IH mouth piece further said: “KRL targets to mine about 60,000 tonnes of manganese by the end of the year during the ramp-up period of operations. Production is targeted to reach 240,000 tonnes of manganese ore annually once commercial production is achieved.”

KRL is a strategic investment aimed at diversifying the commodity mix of the ZCCM-IH’s portfolio which is largely comprised of copper producing assets.

Source: https://www.techwatch.news/zccm-ih-starts-manganese-mining-operations-in-serenje/