BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Job opportunities seem to be increasing in the country, especially in the mining sector.
Other job opportunities are expected to be realised in Mhlume, where a coal mining company known as Eswatini Anthracite will be operating an anthracite coal mine. Minister for Natural Resources and Energy His Royal Highness Prince Lonkhokhela has today visited a coal mine at Mhlume. Eswatini Anthracite is currently holding mining rights of extracting coal at the newly discovered site.
Currently the mine company is in the process of constructing the box cut in preparation for extracting the coal. The box cut is the process to establish the access point for the underground mine. This is in line with the King’s vision, in leveraging the mining sector, the goal is to boost the country’s economy and create numerous job opportunities.
Eswatini Anthracite is not the first mining company to mine minerals in the country. Another one is Magomba Mine, which is also set to mine coal in Mpaka. Kobolondo Mining Eswatini has also expressed interest to Prince Lonkhokhela that it wanted to mine certain minerals in Bulembu.
The minerals include gold, silver, and iron ore, which are said to be available in Bulembu. Micheal Lee Enterprises is a company that is said to be mining green chert at Malolotja. Green chert in that place is said to have an ability to last for 200 to 300 years.
Africa Gold Eswatini, a company from Russia, was once granted a prospecting license in October, 2021 to prospect Gold at Horo in Hhohho region. However, due to effects of Covid-19, the company could not proceed with the prospecting. Russian Ambassador His Excellency Alexander V. Surikov has indicated enormous interest of proceeding with the project. His said this when he met the Minister on February 7 this year.
At the same time, the natural resources ministry has embarked on the second phase of the Multidisciplinary Geoscience Survey Mapping, which is going to cost E18 million.
The second phase was launched in December last year by the then acting Minister for Natural Resources and Energy Jabulani Mabuza. The exercise will be locating available minerals in the Shiselweni and Lubombo Regions.
According to local media reports, from 2021 to 2022, the ministry conducted Phase 1 of multi-disciplinary Geoscience Mapping exercise in the Manzini and Hhohho regions, which was worth E17 million. The exercise was aimed at identifying and prioritising mineral targets in the country.
The E17 million worth survey was groundbreaking as a new group of minerals from Copper-Nickel-Platinum Group Elements were discovered in three different areas in the Hhohho Region, which are Siphocosini, Mhlambanyatsi and LaMgabhi-Luyengo.
