By EPN Reporter
MBABANE-The green chert mineral situated in Malolotja is expected to be mined for 200 years.
This means the mineral can provide jobs to two or three generations in the country because of its abundance. Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Prince Lonkhokhela believed that because of the abundance of the green chert, the country was blessed by God Almighty. He said this yesterday when touring the Malolotja site, where the mineral is found.
“I have been informed that the green chert is available such that it can last for about 200 years. This means that God Almighty has really blessed us with this mineral resource,” Prince Lonkhokhela said. However, Prince Lonkhokhela warned people who went to the site to steal the mineral, saying that was not acceptable, as it could have a negative impact on the country’s efforts to improve its economy.
Micheal Lee Enterprises is the company that was given the licence to mine this mineral. The company also encountered the problem of stealing the mineral at the site, which was already happening as far back as 2005. The company’s Communications Manager Majahonkhe Dlamini told Eswatini TV that they had the task of ensuring social security for neigbouring communities.
“To those who will not be able to be employed here, we promise to help, for instance, by making it easy for the people to produce food through farming so that they can sell their products to us, as we have a kitchen where we will produce food. We will also help them in locating markets, where they can sell their products,” Dlamini said.
According to the Times of Eswatini, the company’s Operations Manager, Mfanufikile Mashinini, told the minister that they were prospecting around 212 hectares of the mine. He explained that Green Chert covered a width of 1.2 kilometres, a height of 500 metres and 60 metres below the ground.
The newspaper further reported that the minister said he was keen to see how was the company planning to add value to the minerals before exporting them, which would in turn, create jobs for locals. “The country had been receiving applications to mine the Green Chert for over 30 years,” he was quoted as saying.
According to local media reports, from 2021 to 2022, the ministry conducted Phase 1 of the 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 the Copper-Nickel-Platinum Group Elements were discovered in three different areas in the Hhohho Region, which are Siphocosini, Mhlambanyatsi and LaMgabhi-Luyengo.
According to Geology Degree (www.geologydegree.org), Chert’s use in construction projects is avoided because it pop-outs when exposed to harsh weather. Certain chert varieties undergo an alkali-silica reaction when mixed with high-alkali cement. This reaction can crack and expand concrete. Chert has limited use today. It is mined mostly as a source of silica. Some chert deposits have valuable iron, uranium, manganese, petroleum, and phosphorite. Chert was used as a raw material to make stone tools in prehistoric times.
PICTURES SOURCED FROM THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY
