Government Has Repossessed Mwanesi Iron Ore Deposits in Chivhu Paving Way

Government has repossessed Mwanesi iron ore deposits in Chivhu paving way for Essar Africa Holdings to resume operations at NewZim Steel.

The deposits were subject to a legal wrangle as a former Zisco employee Mr Roderick Mumbire claimed ownership through a company called Bearable Prospects Ltd.

Mr Gift Chimanikire deputy minister of Mines and Mining Development said Government formally told Mr Mumbire that the claims belonged to the State.

Mr Chimanikire said that "Government has repossessed the claims and we have since formally communicated this position to Mr Mumbire through our Chief Mining Commissioner."

He said that "We invoked the Government's authority to take precedence over all minerals through the Government gazette about a week ago. The case is now closed and there is no question of compensation to Mr Mumbire because he was illegally given those claims. That was a reserved area that was not supposed to be issued to anyone."

He added that the mining commissioner in Gweru erred by giving Mr Mumbire the claims when he knew the area was reserved. The mining commissioner had since been suspended.

He said that repossession of the claims was going to facilitate the handover of the Mwanesi claims to Essar.

He added that his ministry was going to comply with the Cabinet resolution that the claims should be transferred to Essar after a joint exploration to determine the quantity and quality of iron ore deposits.

In the deal that was signed by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Essar through NewZim Minerals would own 80% of iron ore claims at Buchwa Mine, Ripple Creek and Mwanesi Ranch, while 20% is owned by the Government.

Essar has rejected reserves at Buchwa Mine, saying that they were too deep to exploit, while those at Ripple Creek were not sufficient to recoup their investment.