Zimbabwe and India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that paves the way for the formation of a 50:50 joint venture (JV) company that will undertake diamond, gold, chrome and iron-ore exploration and mining in the Southern African country.
The partners in the JV are India’s State-owned National Mineral Development Corpor-ation (NMDC) and Zimbabwe’s State-owned Mosi-oa-Tunya Development Company (MtDC).
Says NMDC MD Chandra Shekar Verma: “The signing of this MoU is a significant step towards ensuring augmentation of the NMDC’s mineral reserves and globalisation of its operations.”
In terms of the MoU, the NMDC will invest financial and technical resources and the MtDC will undertake the projects. The MtDC is also required to carry out a due diligence within 60 days to establish the exact quantity and monetary value of the mineral resources covered by the agreement.
The NMDC, which is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is India’s largest iron-ore producer, with a yearly output of 30-million tonnes. Information filed with the BSE indicates that the company has also invested heavily in exploration projects targeting copper, rock phosphate, limestone, dolomite and rare-earth minerals, which include gypsum, bentonite, magnesite, diamonds, tin, tungsten, graphite and beach sands.