By Staff Reporter
PROSPECT Lithium Zimbabwe, a member of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Company Limited celebrated its first anniversary this Friday.
The company’s General Manager Henry Zhu, in a statement to celebrate the milestone said the company has grown with the construction phase almost over, revealing plans to upgrade the community it is operating in.
Zhu noted with concern how lithium prices on the international market have gone down but said the company is expected to start exporting soon.
“I am happy to say the construction stage is almost over and we are now commissioning the plant after which we can fully produce the product.
“As for our company Corporate Social responsibility, 2023 we are set to roll out one of the biggest corporate Social responsibility program in the Mashonaland East community.
“All projects are centred on improving, supporting, and creating value to the lives of our employees and host communities guided by the health, education, environment, agriculture and infrastructure development pillars,” he said.
The company’s managing director, George Fang echoed the same sentiments saying they strive to make a positive impact on the community and economy at large.
“We embarked on this journey last year, on April 20, 2022 when our parent company, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Company Limited, acquired the Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe asset and began the work of building one of the world’s most sophisticated plants for the processing of hard rock lithium mineral resources.
“Over the past year, we have striven to contribute to the local economy and society, even before we started operations. At inception, we called on local communities to take up employment opportunities.
“This prioritisation resulted in hundreds of people being employed from local villages and wards in Goromonzi District of Mashonaland East Province, while more and more people with varying skills came from all over the country.
Fang said their project employed about 1000 people during the construction stage, and is set to employ hundreds more when production goes full scale.
“As part of our community-driven initiatives we have invested in education, health, water, security and road infrastructure.
“We are proud that we have transformed Vhuta Primary School, our nearest neighbour, through the building of new classroom blocks and teachers’ houses.
“We have furnished other schools and provided learning materials. We have also sunk boreholes for the community and upgraded roads to the benefit of the local agriculture and mining economy.
“We are supporting agriculture initiatives to ensure food security and to empower local farmers through creating a market for their produce,” he said.
Fang added that the mining company will also strive to become a good custodian of the environment ensuring a sustainable and green operation.
Prospect Lithium is ready for production and looking forward to the commissioning of their plant in due course.
