Zimbabwe may sell 40% stake in a key gold mine to raise capital

Zimbabwe’s state-owned Kuvimba Mining House is broadening its search for equity partners and financiers for its gold and lithium mines in a bid to raise capital and expand mineral production.

Kuvimba could sell a 40% stake in Shamva gold mine – one of the oldest in the country – and is also looking for partners for another gold mine, Freda Rebecca, managing director Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya said.

“We could accept someone who could take a big chunk (of shareholding in Shamva) but not a majority stake,” Maseva-Shayawabaya told Reuters during a tour of Freda Rebecca gold mine, located about 97 kms (60 miles) north-east of the capital, Harare.

“But we haven’t progressed enough in the discussions for us to be able to say this is the structure we envisage.”

Kuvimba is seeking to raise about $150 million to develop an open cast mine at Shamva as well as build a processing plant. It also needs partners who can invest in extending the life of Freda Rebecca beyond the current five years, he said.

The financing could also be secured through debt, he added. He declined to name the potential investors the company is talking to.

The company said last month it was finalising talks with potential partners to raise financing for a lithium plant at its Sandawana mine.

In May, one of Kuvimba’s assets, Bindura Nickel Corp, was placed under administration as it struggled to raise financing to revive production after an underground equipment failure in September halted mining operations.

Kuvimba’s gold mines produced about 95,000 ounces of the precious metal last year.

(By Nyasha Chingono and Felix Njini; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)