Subsidiaries
Buchwa Iron Mining Company (BIMCO)
The subsidiary Buchwa Iron Mining Company operated one iron ore mine, Ripple Creek mine and the limestone quarry situated next to the steel works. These operations supplied ZISCO with iron ore, in the form of lump ore and fines, as well as the limestone required as flux for the furnace in iron and steel making.
Ripple Creek iron ore mine lies some 17 km south-west of the Steelworks. The measured iron ore resources amount to 111 million tonnes averaging 52.2% iron content. Selective mining is carried out to produce ore at about 53.5% iron content in order to provide a grade acceptable to ZISCO blast furnaces. The ore reserves at this grade amount to 59 million tonnes giving a minimum life, at the ZISCO capacity of one million tonnes of steel per year, of 32.5 years (approximately 2 million tonnes of iron ore per annum). The ore is transported to ZISCO by a 15.6 km overland conveyor belt.
Lancashire Steel manufactures rods and wire products for manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
The ISO 9001 listed plant is located in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Lancashire Steel operates 6 plants in the manufacture of wire products ranging from rod production, wire drawing plant, galvanizing plant, weld mesh plant, brick force plant and barbed wire plant. Lancashire Steel produces 45 000 metric tonnes of finished products per annum.
The company supplied to a lesser extent wire products to the mining, agriculture, building industries within the region and internationally.
In addition Lancashire Steel operates several divisions such as Salwire, Frontier Steel, and Lancashire Steel Bulawayo. The divisions act as distribution wings of the company as well as manufacturing fencing products and gates, which are marketed in Zimbabwe and the region.