With a wealth of opportunities on offer in a diverse range of sectors, the Free State offers vast potential to investors, with the latest being a plan to develop a jewellery hub in the province.
The Virginia Jewellery Hub (VJH) is being developed as a jewellery manufacturing cluster of industries.
Gold is guaranteed
This area has been identified as a result of the vast availability of the redundant mining assets which are suitable to be turned into factory space to manufacture jewellery as gold is available from the Harmony Gold Mines dotted around the goldfield area.
With the support of the Harmony Gold Mining Company the availability of raw materials (Gold) would be guaranteed.
As part of the establishment of the VJH, there is the Harmony Jewellery School, which was established in the year 2000 to train students from the Goldfields and the surrounding towns. This was seen as an important move to bolster the numbers of a skilled work force who would then be employable when the jewellery manufacturing industries were establishing in this area.
Opportunities abound as there are readily available factory buildings that have been equipped and designed for jewellery manufacturing just needing minor alterations and machinery to suit the new company’s production style.
With the recent increase in the number of diamond mines and the revival of those that were partially closed, the beneficiation activities are said to increase as well.
Diamonds in the Free State
The Free State has been in the news of late with the recent find by an Australian mining firm Paramount Mining of a 15,47 carats diamond at its Peakstar mine.
It is said that previously recovered large diamonds at Peakstar included stones weighing 8,2 carat, 6,01 carat and 4,6 carat.
The Free State now has five diamond mines which will also complement the gold mines, as sources of supplying raw materials to the jewellery manufacturing sector.
For more information about the Virginia Jewellery Hub and other opportunities, contact the Free State Investment Promotion Agency:
Name: Lesley-Anne Welman
Tel: +27 51 410 0885
Email: lesley@fipa-sa.co.za
