Zimbabwe Alloys (ZimAlloys) has approved a $100 million investment deal with Balasore Alloys Group, an Indian ferroalloys producer. The investment will settle ZimAlloys’ $50 million debt and work towards refurbishing and restarting the blast furnaces within the next 18 months.

Roskill View: “Zimbabwe Alloys, formerly part of Anglo American, was Zimbabwe’s second largest ferrochrome producer with an original capacity of 360,000 t/y of ore, until it stopped operations in 2008. The only operations that have resurfaced since 2008 have been focussed on dump material as part of a $2.3 million agreement with a Chinese company. The new deal with Balasore comes three months after ZimAlloys ceded half of its ferrochrome reserves to Zimbabwe’s government after a year-long negotiation. The four furnaces at ZimAlloys that await refurbishment have a combined capacity to produce 146, t/y HC ferrochrome.