Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, Sinosteel's Zimbabwean unit, has put its No.7 submerged arc furnace into operation, taking the company's HC ferrochrome production capacity to 280,000 tonnes per annum.

This new closed furnace is completely built with Chinese technology and equipment and the shaft furnace sintering process is able to utilize ore fines and reduce energy consumption in the smelting process, paving the way for the company to carry out large scale processing of brittle chromium ore and low-carbon smelting.