The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
DOROWA Minerals Mine is courting innovation hubs at three local universities in a bid to cut its import bill and ensure uninterrupted availability of reagents.
Reagents are the key to the flotation process as they actively separate phosphate particles from the other minerals in preparation for fertiliser production.
Dorowa Minerals Mine, which falls under Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Group of Companies, is wholly owned by Government and is the only producer of phosphate in Zimbabwe.
The phosphate produced at Dorowa is used in the production of Compound D, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) fertilisers at Zimphos and Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company (ZFC).
IDC board chairman, Mr Wiston Makamure told The Manica Post Business in an interview early this week that importing the reagents from the Netherlands has been a nightmare, with the delays in supply disrupting production.
“At times the mine runs out of them and halt production. We have come up with a plan to substitute the reagents with locally produced ones or at least those produced within the region. Currently, we are working with the innovation hubs at the University of Zimbabwe, Harare Institute of Technology and Nation University of Science and Technology to have replacements.
“In the region, we are working with two South African companies which have given us their reagents for laboratory tests, and they proved to be better than the ones currently in use. This will make the logistics easier, and eliminate the current challenge of halting production whenever reagents are not available,” said Mr Makamure.
“As you are aware, one of the Second Republic’s initiatives in higher learning is the introduction of innovation hubs. We are working with the three institutions so that we substitute the imports of the reagents, and so far that project is moving on quite well.
“We have had successful laboratory tests, but since it is a process, we need to be sure that when we go into real production everything works perfectly,” he said.
“When the mine was resuscitated, we prioritised servicing the plant and get it running.
“After that we commenced mining and doing the basics.
““With the reagent stocks we had, we could start producing, but we are now at a stage where we need to import substitute them, hence the latest initiative,” said Mr Makamure.
Apart from the reagent issue, the mine is also saddled with antiquated equipment which results in high maintenance costs.
Dorowa also uses the open cast method which consumes a lot of fuel.
The mine was also affected by Covid-19 induced disruptions on the supply chain as support industries were closed most of the time.
Reliability of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) wagons to move phosphate to Zimphos is also a major challenge, with Dorowa being forced to use haulage trucks to transport phosphate to Nyazura.
