RioZim invests US$100m on expansion projects
BUSINESS REPORTER
RioZim Limited, a publicly traded resource company, has committed US$100m to expansion projects with the aim of increasing output across multiple mines.
RioZim chairman Saleem Beebeejaun stated in the company’s 2022 annual report that the investment might help the miner’s situation.
“By investing in excess of US$100m , the group delivered two milestone high-tech expansion projects to secure the future of the company, these being the Biological Oxidation (BIOX) plant at Cam & Motor Mine and Project Crown Jewel 500tph plant at RZM Murowa.
These two multimillion dollar investments in the company came in the face of a mix of macroeconomic adversities, power shortages and increased global uncertainty,” Beebeejaun said.
According to him, Kadoma town and the surrounding areas will experience a revitalization thanks to the BIOX Plant project, which will revive mining operations.
The group will generate sustainable profits once the two projects are successfully put into commission.
According to him, the two plants helped to boost production during the current period, and this momentum is anticipated to continue into the next fiscal year.
To achieve the highest levels of production capacity, he said the group will continue to concentrate on optimizing the two plants.
Beebeejaun said despite concerted efforts to improve the company’s production levels, it continues to suffer from various economic headwinds.
“Notwithstanding the positive contributions of these two projects to the group’s production, the company continued to suffer from acute power supply challenges, which significantly weighed down the group’s efforts to increase production volumes. Foreign currency challenges and exchange rate distortions also continued to negatively impact the group’s profitability,” he said.
The group suffered a loss of ZWL$20.04bn , increasing from ZWL$2.097bn in 2022.
Notwithstanding the fall in gold production, which was mostly caused by the local currency’s depreciation against the US dollar, the group’s revenue of ZWL$20.6bn represented an exponential increase over the previous year’s revenue of ZWL$5.8 bn.
Gold production recorded a 17% decline to 929kg from 1122kg produced in the prior year.
The group focused on optimising the plant to bring it to nameplate capacity and eliminating teething challenges hence production was subdued subsequent to the commissioning of the BIOX plant at Cam & Motor mine, Dalny was placed under full care and maintenance during the year, which exacerbated the decline in gold production for the current year.
