Paul Nyakazeya, Group Digital Editor 
RIOZIM Limited says it will prioritise the completion and commissioning of its Biological Oxidation (BIOX) plant project before the close of the financial year to December 31 to increase gold production.
This comes after the group suffered a further inflation adjusted loss of US$1,4 billion for the half year to June 30, 2021 from $77,4 million prior year.
In a statement accompanying the group financial results, Saleem Beeneejaun, RioZim chairperson, said the completion of the US$17 million BIOX Plant Project was pivotal for the sustenance of the Cam & Motor mine in Kadoma as the company continues to pursue value creation for all stakeholders.
“The company is focused on the completion and commissioning of its BIOX Plant Project before the close of the financial year as this project remains a key priority for the group.
“All outstanding equipment deliveries were fast tracked subsequent to period end after payments of the final instalments and installations are continuing in earnest,” he said.
The completion of BIOX was delayed due to funding constraints and the Covid-19 pandemic. The BIOX technology is expected to help the group value-add its precious minerals through processing pure oxide ores to make good grades and high recoveries and this is expected to increase current production levels by at least 50 percent.
The group produced 564kg of gold for the six months, which was a four percent decline from prior year’s production of 586kg. The depressed production was mainly attributable to the rain-induced power outages and plant breakdowns experienced in the first quarter of 2021 which stifled plant production across the group’s mines.
Gold prices remained relatively consistent with same period prior year prices and averaged US$1 777/oz, a four percent increase against US$1 713/oz. Revenue generated during the period was $2.6 billion in comparison to $616.4 million last year.
“The marked increase in revenue was a direct result of the depreciation of the local currency against the United States dollar.
“Resultantly, the lower production achieved led to a loss of $1,5 billion compared to the same period prior year’s loss of $77,4 million,” he said.
Commenting on the group’s gold business, Renco Mine said half year’s production dropped by three percent to 278kg from 288kg. Dalny mine achieved a six percent growth in production for the period at 105kg from 99kg.
The Cam & Motor mine suffered from incessant rains during the first quarter which made some of the mining areas in the mines open pits inaccessible resulting in the mine obtaining lower grade ores than planned.
Cam also experienced persistent rain-induced breakdowns on its plant which also negatively affected plant throughput. Consequently, gold production for the period fell by nine percent to 181kg compared to the prior period’s 199kg.
Commenting on the 2 800MW Sengwa Power Station, Beeneejaun said: “As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to evolve across the world, financiers and lenders took a conservative approach making it difficult to bring financial closure for this project.
“However, engagements with potential financiers for the projects, remain alive despite the challenges and uncertainties brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
