In a worrying trend of poor safety of small scale mines, A 23-year-old miner died in a mine-related accident in fort Rixon, barely two weeks after seven died at Bucks mine in Colleen Bawn.
Prince Sunduzani
The miner was reported to have been trapped about 7 meters in the mine shaft at Charhon Mine.
This is yet another case which exposes poor safety measures and the risk related to small scale mining, which has continued to claim the lives of miners across the country.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the incident which occurred earlier this week, saying, “Police at ZRP Fort Rixon received a report of a mine accident in which a 23-year-old man died after he was trapped in an approximately 7-metre deep mine shaft at Charhon A2 Mine. Investigations are in progress.”
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Henrietta Rushwaya, on the backdrop of this spate of mine accidents, made a clarion call to delegates at the just ended Chamber of Mines annual general meeting to help capacitate small scale mines in providing a safe working environment for ASMs.
“We also face a lack of human capital and use unqualified personnel, which has resulted in a lot of lives being lost and this is actually a cause for concern.
Honourable Minister, with the involvement of big mines, we would like to make a request that they also help small-scale miners with human capital that will teach the sector how proper safe mining is carried out,” she said.
The rudimentary processing practices and unregulated activities, often performed at informal mine sites, make artisanal mining a magnet for occupational health and safety risks.
Often lacking proper technical training and access to finance for safety equipment, it is common to find artisanal miners foregoing basic safety measures while working in poor conditions to obtain gold.