Mashava (New Ziana) -An iron and steel smelting plant currently under construction at Mashava, Chivi district, Masvingo province expects to employ more than 200 people when it starts operating before the end of this year, a senior company official has said.

Briefing local journalists during a tour of the company on Wednesday, Mashava Iron and Steel Smelting company administrator Zhang Meng said there would be employment opportunities for local residents at the plant, which is expected to start full operations in October this year, producing about 500 000 tons of chrome per year.

Currently while the plant is under construction, a number of local people have been employed with the numbers expected to rise when full production begins.

Small-scale chrome miners are also expected to benefit as the smelting plant, jointly owned by the Chinese and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, would create a market for their ore, which the company would buy.

In addition to job opportunities and a ready market for their chrome ore, the local community is also set to benefit from the company’s planed social responsibility programmes, which include construction of schools and setting up of irrigation schemes.

“For the small scale miners, we are going to buy the chrome from them,” said Zheng.

New Ziana