science

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company rather than just read about it. In short: Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company is the largest steel works in Zimbabwe. It is located just outside Kwekwe, in Redcliff, Kwekwe District.

Key takeaways

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company is the largest steel works in Zimbabwe. It is located just outside Kwekwe, in Redcliff, Kwekwe District. Over the years the company has faced many operational problems and corruption scandals.

History In 1942, the colonial government founded the Rhodesian Iron and Steel Commission (Riscom). It was sited at the steel plant at Redcliff, to develop the huge iron and limestone deposits nearby. In 1957, it changed its name to the Rhodesian Iron and Steel Company (Risco). It suffered from a lack of experienced personnel and low level of production which meant high unit costs. In 1954, a debt of 1.7 million pounds sterling had to been written off as irrecoverable. In 1956, the loss-making situation was turned into a profit-making situation due to the formation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the denationalisation of the industry. In 1956, iron ore output from the company was 127,954 tons. By 1957, this had doubled to 257,166 tons. In 1965, the company employed up to 2,900 people. In 1980, after Independence, it was renamed the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO). By 1990 it employed about 5,500 people and indirect employment was around 50,000. It used to export to Europe and Asia as well as neighbouring African countries.

Problems In 2000, Ziscosteel operated without a fully constituted board. Its blast furnaces were no longer functional while its plants and equipment was now obsolete. As of early 2008, the company was producing less than 12,500 tonnes, far below the break-even capacity of 25,000 tonnes. By 2010, it could hardly pay its depleted workforce. It has been claimed that more than 200 former workers have died since 2011 because they were unable to pay for medicine or hospital treatment. It was wholly owned by the government of Zimbabwe, until in November 2010, it invited bidders for a 64% stake of the ZISCO group of companies mainly to reduce or liquidate two large debts totalling $340 million, including $240 million to a German bank. 54% of the company is now in the hands of Essar Africa Holdings Ltd (India-based). The government of Zimbabwe still holds 36% and a consortium of private investors holds 10%. Up to 3,000 jobs were saved. The ZISCO group of companies include BIMCO, Lancashire Steel, Frontier Steel, ZISCO Distribution Centre. All these companies are 100% owned by ZISCO. It gets raw materials (such as iron ore) from Ripple Creek mine which is about 14 kilometers from ZISCO. Up to 70 million tonnes can be mined. Up to 200 million tonnes of limestone can be found on an open cast mine which is a few meters from ZISCO. Zimbabwe also has reserves of up to 22 billion tonnes of coal.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company

In research: Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Iron and steel mills, Kwekwe District, Steel companies of Zimbabwe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company in simple terms?

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company is the largest steel works in Zimbabwe. It is located just outside Kwekwe, in Redcliff, Kwekwe District.

Why does Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company.