HARARE, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwe government has signed a 5.2 billion U.S. dollars deal with a South Africa firm for the production of over 8 million liters of liquid fuels per day from coal in Hwange.
The deal, signed Thursday between South African firm Nkosikhona Holdings and Verify Engineering Pvt Ltd, an agent of the Zimbabwe's government, will see the beneficiation of coal for production of liquid fuels, fertilizers and chemicals, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Friday.
The deal also involves coal production and the setting up of the beneficiation plant.
A ground breaking ceremony for the plant is scheduled for June 1, 2018 while mining operations will start in September, it reported.
It will take at least three and a half years before the country starts benefiting from the value addition and beneficiation.
The project will operate under the joint venture company Vectol Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd.
Zimbabwe holds vast coal reserves, particularly in the northwestern and southern regions.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the liquid project was a good example of commodity-based industrialization in value addition.
"My government fully endorses this project and has granted it national project status. I am confident that it will contribute to our energy, security and self-sufficiency in terms of liquid fuels, fertilizers and a range of other chemicals," he was quoted by the newspaper report as saying.
