He said as a result the mine incurred a loss of P83 million in the last financial year. He lauded the miner for not retrenching its employees but embarking on diversifying its operations instead.He said the mine is currently sustained by only two shafts as others are no longer yielding anticipated minerals.He advised all stakeholders, including unions, to always keep abreast of market performance of minerals to appreciate how bad the company is performing because mineral prices keep fluctuating. He said the mine had considered setting up a copper smelter but said this will be too expensive. "We will continue to work hand in hand with the mine to improve the economy of the town and to extend its lifespan," he said.
He added that a Japanese company intends to set up a P300 million plant to capture mine emissions to make sulphuric acid.He said the challenge now is how the product will be exported to the market without passing through other countries. The route for the product according to the minister is through Zimbabwe and Mozambique."These countries now want us to assure them that transporting sulphuric acid across their countries would not pose a threat to the environment and human life. This is what the Japanese company is currently working on," he added.Meanwhile, Molefhi said after the 2008 downturn, the economy is not recovering at the anticipated pace hence delaying development projects. He gave an example of how a hospital planned for Selebi-Phikwe has since been deferred alongside those planned for Moshupa and Gumare.
