Gold producers have called for a guaranteed uninterrupted power supply to avoid production stoppages and output losses within the sector.
Addressing delegates at the recently held annual mining indaba, Chamber of Mines Gold Producers Association chairman Thomas Gono said the power should be competitively priced in order to curtail production costs.
“Gold producers should be guaranteed uninterrupted power supply to avoid production stoppages and output losses. The power should be competitively priced in order to curtail production costs.
He also called for adequate foreign exchange allocations to be disbursed timely to allow gold producers to import critical materials for production.
“There is a need to guarantee adequate foreign exchange to the gold industry to allow gold producers to import critical materials for production.
“Retention thresholds should be reviewed upwards to between 75% to 90% in line with foreign exchange requirements for gold producers.
“The majority of suppliers are demanding payments in foreign exchange, in isolated cases where RTGS dollar is accepted, the prices are as much as 10 times the US$ price.
“RBZ should reduce the turnaround period for depositing foreign exchange into nostros for gold delivered to Fidelity, to not more than 7 days in order to curtail production disruptions arising from input shortages,” he said.
Energy and Power Development Minister, Advocate Fortune Chasi last week took a bold decision to dissolve the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) board which he accused of not addressing pertinent issues which needed urgent attention.
