Kuvimba mulls power imports

power blackout

IN a bid to reduce load shedding, Kuvimba Mining House (KMH) is considering importing its own power from neighbouring countries.

Speaking at a tour of the Bindura Nickel Mine, the company’s managing director Thomas Lusiyano said that load shedding has had an adverse impact on the business

“We have lost production particularly this month of March 2023 because of load shedding which is coming at unprecedented levels,” he said.

“We understand that there is a challenge on the national grid so what we are doing internally is we are having an internal discussion within KMH so that we can import power directly from our neighbouring countries.”

He added that other mining companies were also considering the importation of power.

“We have got a number of mines as KMH within the stable therefore we have the capacity to import power directly,” Lusiyano said.

KMH is also in the process of constructing a solar plant that will help solve the power issues.

“We are going to install a solar power plant on our farm and all the preliminary work has been done including technical work on the ground, securing all the licences and approvals; all that work has been done,” Lusiyano said.

“So what we are waiting for is just the taking off of the project on the ground then we will be able to provide solar power.

“The construction phase will take approximately one year, the first phase will be 18MW that will focus primarily on BNC then the second phase will be 56MW that will then include our sister mines, Freda Rebecca and Shamva gold mine.”

BNC alone currently consumes 15 megawatts.

“The bulk of it goes to the underground so that is about 6MW and then the concentrator takes about 4MW and then the remainder goes to the surface offices, the village and the water farming facilities,” BNC mine manager Eddington Vere said.

“If we were adding the smelter and the refinery to the equation that would be an additional 30MW.”

The mining company started experiencing load shedding as of March 3.

“Zesa will call us and say shed off 8MW or shed off 5MW, yesterday we were down by 4MW so we had to stop part of the process, sometimes we stop the front end and sometimes we stop the back end, we alternate but it is very disruptive,” Vere said.

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