Minister of Mines Walter Chidhakwa
THE value of mineral output for the first half of 2016 increased by 8,8 percent to US$806 million, from US$741 million during the same period in 2015 on the back of strong output performance of key minerals the Chamber of Mines said.
The minerals exclude diamond, coal and chrome.
Gold revenue surged US$415 million in the first half of 2016 compared to US$340 million during the same period in 2015, riding on a production output increase to 10 360 kg in the first half of 2016 compared to 8 869 kg during same period last year.
Of the 10 360 kg produced during the first half of 2016, 55 percent was accounted for by large scale primary producers, while 36 percent and nine percent came from small scale and secondary producers, respectively.
In his representation at the Chamber of Mines breakfast meeting last week, chamber president Toendepi Muganyi said, albeit lower than desired, key minerals such as gold, platinum and nickel recorded significant growth in output during the first half of 2016, compared to the same period of 2015.
“Large scale producers increased output by seven (to 5 701 kg in 2016, from 5 324 kg in 2015), while deliveries from small scale producers increased by 31 percent (from 2 863 kg to 3 748 kg for the comparable periods),” he said.
Nickel production increased by 9 101 tonnes from 7 918 tonnes under the same period last year with BNC, the primary producer accounting for 37 percentof the total while the rest (63 percent) came from secondary producers ( platinum producers).
Nickel revenue rose to US$58 million compared to last US$79 million same period last year whilst Nickel price remained subdued, averaging US$8 600/ ton in the first half of 2016, compared to US$13 707/tonne in 2015.
Chrome exports rose toUS$3,6 million from US$1,1 million during the first half of 2015 riding on the back of a 250 percent increase to 47 913 tonnes compared to 13 697 tonnes during the same period in 2015.
Platinum revenue increased by US$211 million from US$185 million in the prior period while production rose to 7 968 kgs from 5 561kgs in the previous period.
In the period under review palladium revenue also increased to US$97,9 million compared to US$97 million under the same period last year on the back of an increase in production to 6 402 tonnes from 4 414 tonnes same period last year.
Muganyi said, with the exception of gold, average prices for all key minerals during the first half of 2016 were lower than for the same period in 2015.
Average gold price for 2016 was US$1 219/ounce, compared to US$1 206/ounce for the comparable period in 2015, while platinum price at US$958/ounce, was 18 percent lower than US$1 161/ounce recorded in the same period in 2015.
Munganyi said while gold, platinum and nickel are expected to register significant output growths, output for diamonds and coal were expected to decline. FinX
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