The SEZ designation application is in its final stages. Post-SEZ designation the project will initiate Phase 1 (2023-2024) of the project which will be the SEZ construction and development.
JUNE 9, 2024
Economic zone targets western SADC for operation
The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) designation application is in its final stages. Post-SEZ designation the project will initiate Phase 1 (2023-2024) of the project which will be the SEZ construction and development.
The Namakwa Special Economic Zone – gearing the western SADC up for economic growth
The proposed Namakwa SEZ is being developed to be an industrial hub for the West Coast of Africa and a catalyst for industrialising the western SADC area.
It is located in the small mining town of Aggeneys. Aggeneys is in the Khai-Ma Local Municipality within the Namakwa District Municipality of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Aggeneys is 66 km from Pofadder (headquarters of the local municipality) and 110 km from Springbok, where the office of the district municipality is located.
The Vision is “to be the Catalyst for Economic Growth and Integration throughout western SADC.”
Value Proposition
The value proposition of the Namakwa SEZ is based on the existence of the Gamsberg Zinc Mine (pictured above) and the proposed building of a smelter by Vedanta Zinc International. These would be the anchor tenants of the SEZ.
It is proposed that a smelter be built to treat zinc concentrate produced at Gamsberg. The zinc concentrate produced at the existing concentrator plant will be treated in the smelter using the conventional roast-leach-electrowinning (R-L-E) process.
The SEZ designation application is in its final stages where we envisage that the final and complete designation shall be granted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) in September 2022.
The anchor investor of the SEZ will be Vedanta Zinc International which is already running the Gamsberg Zinc Mine and intends to build a smelter. (Photo: Kevin Wright/Vedanta Zinc International)
Various domestic and international investment partners have indicated a keen interest to invest in the Namakwa SEZ with industries that include but are not limited to mineral beneficiation, construction, agriculture, green energy production, petrochemical, transport, engineering supplies, localisation and SMME development.
The Namakwa SEZ development is “the game changer” for minerals beneficiation in South Africa and the Northern Cape Province, providing a “turn-key solution” to industrialisation.
Post-SEZ designation the project will initiate Phase 1 (2023-2024) of the project which will be the SEZ construction and development.
The Northern Cape Provincial Government, with support and guidance provided by the dtic, is fully aligned to the establishment of the SEZ and has committed all efforts and energy to make a real success of this project.
Downstream investment
Non-ferrous metals such as zinc have characteristics that make them immensely useful in a wide range of downstream applications. Resistance to corrosion and their non-magnetic qualities are among the reasons for the wide range of uses to which they can be put.
It is envisaged that investors wanting to take advantage of the by-products of the mine and the smelter will be attracted to the Namakwa SEZ. Various wastes and by-products will be generated by the smelter that could be useful to investors.
Waste includes: Iron cake stabilized (dry), Jarofix; effluent treatment plant cake (dry); evaporation pond salts (dry); and cellhouse sludge (dry).
By-products include: manganese cake (dry); Cu-Cd cement (dry); Co-Ni cement (dry); and sulphuric acid (wet). Investors in this category include businesses in the follow sectors:
Sulphuric acid (including pharmaceutical, automotive batteries and paper bleaching) Fertilisers, Explosives, Paints
Read Globalafricanetwork: https://www.globalafricanetwork.com/manufacturing/namakwa-sez-zinc-smelter/
