Dec. 29, 2017 - Gweru-based giant ferrochrome producer, Zimbabwe Alloys (ZimAlloys), is set to double its production capacity and diversify to low carbon ferrochrome after securing a $100 million investment from Balasore Alloys Group of India.

ZimAlloys general manager, Mr Mike Dzinoreva, said the new investor will expand the company’s smelting capacity to 20 660 tonnes of ferrochrome per month from 10 330 tonnes per month.

He said the company would construct a new Sintering Plant for the processing of chrome fines (alluvial) to produce low carbon ferrochrome.

Mr Dzinoreva said the company will also construct six alluvial concentrate smelting plants at different mining sites.

Chrome fines constitute more than 70 percent of the country’s chrome deposits and have been underutilised until the coming of African Chrome Fields (ACF).

“We have plans of setting up six alluvial concentrate processing plants on different sites with each producing a minimum of 5 000 tonnes monthly.

Already we have set up one plant jointly with a Chinese company at Sutton Mine where we are producing 5 000 tonnes.

“At the moment we are using the product for export purposes but when we resuscitate our plants we will feed it into our plant to produce a new product, which is low carbon ferrochrome,” he said.

Mr Dzinoreva said the company will be refurbishing two furnaces M1 and A3, which have a combined production capacity of 4 330 under the first phase scheduled for the first six months of 2018.

He said the remaining two A1 and A2 will be refurbished under the second phase.