Riozim had also found new gold deposits along the country’s mining belt
Harare - Zimbabwe’s biggest mining company, Riozim said on Tuesday that it had discovered copper in the south of the country, but did not reveal the size of the deposits. Company chairman, Eric Kahari, said Riozim had also found new gold deposits along the country’s mining belt in central Zimbabwe.

The company currently mines just gold and diamonds, but has announced plans to venture into other minerals in response to strong commodity prices on international markets. Kahari said Riozim planned to undertake intensive exploration work at the copper deposits, while commercial mining was due to begin anytime on the new gold mine. “Further exploration on these (copper deposits) claims will be carried out in 2007.

Work on the One Step Gold Prospect took longer than anticipated to complete but has now progressed to project implementation stage,” he said. Zimbabwe’s only copper mine, Mhangura, closed more than ten years ago due to viability problems. It was shut down when copper prices were depressed on international markets. These have now risen due to record levels on the back of huge demand from China and India.