The Chamber of Mines Gold Producers Association has revealed that the gold industry requires in excess of US$1 billion in the next five years to sustain growth and development of the sector to achieve the output targets.
Addressing delegates at the Zimbabwe Annual Mining Conference in Victoria Falls, Chamber of Mines Gold Producers Association Chairman Thomas Gono said local gold industry continues to face serious capital shortages to finance their operations and expansion plans.
“The local gold industry continues to face serious capital shortages to finance their operations and expansion plans.
“Local financial market has limited capacity to finance such huge capital requirements on the back of liquidity challenges.
“When facilities are locally available, they will be expensive. Offshore facilities are also expensive due to country risk premium. As a result, mining companies have struggled to fund exploration activities as well as facing difficulties in retooling,” he said.
He also called for a guarantee of an uninterrupted power supply to avoid production stoppages and output losses within the sector.
“The power supply situation in the remains fragile. Most gold producers have been experiencing severe power outages with some going for 7 days without power, leading to widespread output losses.
“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,” added Gono.
