Todal’s claims were taken from Anglo American Platinum over
a decade ago and handed to Central African Mining & Exploration. The
company was later bought by Eurasian Natural Resources, which later became
Eurasian Resources Group.
The claims are adjacent to AngloPlat’s Unki Mine in
Shurugwi.
Government sources close to the project said this week
authorities had not heard from Todal investors for a while now.
Senior officials In the Mines ministry told the Zimbabwe
Independent that administratively, Todal was changing hands, but would not
elaborate.
But others, however, said the project’s international
shareholders and local partners had no capacity to run mining operations.
“The lack of development at Bokai and Kinonde concessions
by Todal Mining has continued to be of concern to authorities,” a source at the
Mines ministry told the Independent. “Chitando is now under increasing pressure
to cancel the deal at a time when investment in platinum mining continues to
attract investors.
“The proprietors of the project are nowhere to be found.
They have literally dumped the project. One of the local partners (name
supplied) has been globetrotting and is nowhere to be found.”
Pfungwa Kunaka, permanent secretary in the Ministry of
Mines, only confirmed that there were changes underway in terms of Todal’s
administration at the ministry.
“There were indications that the project was being
transferred to Defold, which is another parastatal,” Kunaka said.
“We are still gathering information internally and will
revert,” he added.
Defold is a parastatal in the ministry, which is now
chaired by ex- mines permanent secretary, Onismo Mazai Moyo.
Mazai said he could not comment as the transfer of Todal to
Delford was not yet complete.
Todal’s local partner Valentine Garacho did not respond to
questions.
Questions sent to Eurasia Resources Group via e-mail were
also not responded to.
Sources told the Independent that political bigwigs in the
Midlands province were backing a well-known mining tycoon to take over the
concessions.
The mining tycoon already has a huge footprint in the gold,
ferrochrome and platinum sectors.
“There is serious lobbying by some Midlands politicians who
have queried Todal Mining’s capacity to execute that multi-billion-dollar
project,” a source said.
“Midlands politicians are pushing for this mining tycoon to
take over the concessions. They worry that the project has been dormant for too
long and this was not good for the province, which already boasts of various
successful mining projects,” the source said.
With a 20-year life, Todal was expected to produce an
average of 150 000 tonnes of platinum ore per month but required US$250 million
investment to start operations.
The Independent is reliably informed that the government
has been piling pressure on Todal Mining Limited to come up with a roadmap on
starting operations.
Chitando was instructed by Cabinet last year to follow-up
on the project and he informed Todal Mining that its concessions could be
seized because no progress was made in developing them.
Last year, Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting
Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told a post-Cabinet briefing said Cabinet
wanted the platinum project up and running.
“Cabinet also considered the need to get the Todal-Bokai
Platinum Project next to Unki Mine into production as soon as possible so that
it contributes to the US$12 billion mining industry milestone. Mines minister
was also tasked to follow up on the issue accordingly,” Mutsvangwa said then.
Zimbabwe has the world’s third-biggest platinum group metal
reserves but to date, only three platinum projects are in full production.
Great Dyke Investments’ Darwendale project is yet to take off after failing to
raise funding while Karo Resources project is still in the initial stages.
Zimbabwe Independent
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