Business Reporter/Agencies
FINANCE and Investment Promotion Minister,Mthuli Ncube has allowed a top Chrome miner to import 13,95 million litres of diesel duty free.
The beneficiary company ,African Chrome Fields (ACF) Private Limited mines and processes alluvial chromite ore for the special alloy and stainless-steel industries, with a unique beneficiation capacity capable of processing high-grade chrome into high-quality, value-adding ferroalloys.
With hundreds of alluvial chrome mining concessions across Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke region, ACF has tapped into Zimbabwe’s rich mineral resources.
“It is hereby notified that the Minister of Finance ,Economic Development and Investment Promotion has interms of Section 235 as read with section 120 of the Customs and Excise Act made the following regulations.
“The Customs and Excise SuspensionRegulations,2003, published in SI 257 of 2003 are amended in section 9 BB as follows- in subsection 2 by the deletion of the words “1st January,2023 to 21st January 2026; approved beneficiary of power generation projects eligible for suspension of duty,” read SI6 of 2025.
The latest waiver effectively means that the company will not pay duty for two more years over and above the initial two years.
The development comes at a time the Civil Society has castigated some Chrome miners for leaving behind a trail of destruction after tapping into the country’s underneath.
Since ACF entered the chromium extraction sector in 2014, its output has steadily risen and the company now produces in excess of 35,000 tonnes of chromite per month. ACF enjoys a strong reputation and has injected hundreds of millions of US dollars into the country’s economy since its inception.
Zimbabwe is home to some 19% of global chrome ore reserves – the second largest in the world. Its chrome store is also of a higher grade than other international sources, with an exceptional chrome to iron ratio of 2:1.
