The China-African Precious Metals Company has recently opened a newly refurbished gold processing plant, which will create close to 4 000 work opportunities in Orkney in the City of Matlosana Local Municipality, North West.

The plant, which was resuscitated to the tune of over R200 million, forms part of the company's R2 billion investment at its Orkney operations in the province.

The official opening of the plant was attended by Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, Premier of the North West, Kagiso Lazarus Mokgosi, Executive Mayor of City of Matlosana Local Municipality, Councilor Fikile Mahlope and former Acting Premier Nono Maloyi.

Mokgosi maintains this investment which will create close to 4 000 work opportunities for locals is a culmination of government's investment initiatives aimed at addressing the scourge of unemployment and poverty in the province.

"This means all our investment initiatives from the sixth to the seventh administration were not in vain. Moreover, our ongoing efforts to lure investments and address the scourge of unemployment and poverty is yielding desired results particularly in economically depressed communities like this one," Mokgosi said.

More investment commitments are trickling in as the much-anticipated gas to power project in the same municipality will be announced before the end of the year.

"Over and above this project, on the 28th of this month, we will be meeting with a delegation of business people from the Henan province of China, led by the Ambassador, to engage in various investment opportunities in mining, tourism and agriculture, which are mainly the three economic drivers of the province," Mokgosi said.

Mokgosi further said that these investment commitments come at a time when the province has recorded sixty-nine thousand job opportunities in the third quarter of 2024.

He said these efforts serve as a glimmer of hope in the province's ongoing endeavours to create various socio-economic opportunities for the people of North West.