The Zimbabwe mining sector has recorded approximately 150 fatalities from about 140 mining accidents in the nine months to September 30, 2026, raising fresh concerns over the sustainability of safety gains recorded last year, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The latest figures from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development show that the industry is again facing significant safety pressures, particularly in artisanal and small-scale mining, where ground instability, unsafe shafts, explosives and inadequate safety systems continue to claim lives.
The latest toll comes after a marked improvement in mining safety in 2025, when fatalities across the sector fell to 132 from 186 in 2024 and 237 in 2023. The Chamber of Mines recorded 109 fatal accidents in 2025, down from 143 the previous year.
The 2026 figures suggest that the progress made last year remains vulnerable, particularly among smaller and informal mining operations.
ASM fatalities rise in first quarter
The warning signs were already evident in the first quarter.
Between January and March 2026, 64 artisanal and small-scale miners died in mining-related accidents, representing a six percent increase compared with the corresponding period in 2025, Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Polite Kambamura said in June.
Ground collapses were responsible for 54 percent of the deaths, claiming 35 lives. Improper use of explosives and gas-related incidents accounted for 25 percent, while falls into abandoned and unprotected shafts contributed 15 percent. Electrocution and equipment-related incidents accounted for the remaining six percent.
Kambamura described the deaths as largely preventable and challenged mine inspectors to become more proactive in identifying and stopping unsafe mining practices.
“Behind each of those numbers is a family broken, a community grieving and a question we are duty-bound to answer: could it have been prevented?” he said.
The Minister also warned inspectors against treating mining safety as a paperwork exercise, urging them to use statutory powers where operators were working without title, undermining public infrastructure or engaging in dangerous mining practices.
2025 safety gains
The latest deterioration is particularly significant because 2025 represented a substantial improvement in Zimbabwe’s mining safety record.
According to the Chamber of Mines’ 2025 State of the Mining Industry report, the sector recorded 109 fatal accidents resulting in 132 deaths, compared with 143 fatal accidents and 186 fatalities in 2024. The Chamber attributed much of the reduction in fatal accidents to measures implemented by the Ministry of Mines to improve safety awareness in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector.
Data covering the first 10 months of 2025 also showed the improvement taking hold during the year. Fatal incidents fell from 118 in the corresponding period of 2024 to 89 in 2025, while deaths declined from 147 to 112.
However, the improvement did not eliminate the underlying hazards.
Falls of ground remained the leading cause of fatal accidents in the Chamber’s 2025 data, with 44 such accidents recorded. Shaft accidents accounted for another 22, while 11 involved people falling down excavations. Machinery-related accidents accounted for eight cases.
The persistence of these hazards is particularly significant in small-scale mining, where access to technical expertise, ground-control systems, dewatering equipment and other safety infrastructure can be limited.
Small-scale mining remains the biggest challenge
The safety challenge is concentrated heavily at the smaller end of the mining sector.
During the first 10 months of 2025, small-scale and illegal mining operations accounted for 88 percent of recorded fatal incidents and deaths, according to Chamber of Mines data. Large-scale mines recorded 11 fatal accidents resulting in 13 deaths during the same period.
The figures point to a persistent enforcement challenge for authorities, particularly where mining takes place outside the formal regulatory system.
That challenge has also been acknowledged by the government. The Ministry has been expanding safety awareness programmes while seeking to strengthen the ability of inspectors to identify hazards and respond to accidents.
By June, the Ministry said it had trained more than 500 artisanal miners in basic safety and environmental management through its extension programme. It was also moving towards digital inspection platforms, drone-assisted surveillance of high walls and tailings facilities, and advanced geotechnical monitoring.
The Ministry has additionally announced a 24-hour mining accident response call centre as part of efforts to improve the reporting and response to mine accidents and unsafe conditions.
Technology and enforcement push
The government’s proposed response increasingly centres on strengthening the inspectorate through technology and enforcement.
Kambamura has argued that conventional inspection methods are no longer sufficient for a mining industry that is becoming more technically complex.
The Ministry has said it is rolling out digital inspection systems to replace paper-based processes, while drone-assisted monitoring and geotechnical technologies are expected to give inspectors better visibility of hazards.
The government has also proposed an emergency US$2 million resource envelope for a National Safety Enforcement Blitz and has been engaging Treasury over increased resources for the mining inspectorate.
The effectiveness of these measures, however, will depend on their implementation and the ability of inspectors to reach and monitor high-risk operations across the country.
The human cost
The statistics have renewed calls for a stronger focus on the human cost of mining accidents.
Speaking at the Mining Safety and Rehabilitation Symposium in Bulawayo in September, Zimbabwe School of Mines principal engineer Edwin Gwaze said the miners killed in accidents should not be reduced to statistics, describing them as sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and breadwinners.
The School of Mines has called for zero fatalities in artisanal and small-scale mining, arguing that improved training and stronger occupational safety and health practices are necessary to reduce accidents.
That call comes as the sector attempts to reconcile its growing economic importance with the continued loss of workers at mining sites.
A fragile safety record
Zimbabwe’s mining industry enters the final quarter of 2026 with a safety record that is difficult to assess as a simple reversal or continuation of previous trends.
The reduction from 237 deaths in 2023 to 186 in 2024 and 132 in 2025 represented significant progress. But the approximately 150 fatalities recorded by September 30, 2026, together with the 64 ASM deaths in the first quarter alone, demonstrate that the underlying risks remain deeply entrenched.
For the Ministry, the immediate challenge is to translate safety campaigns, inspection reforms, technology and enforcement into measurable reductions in deaths, particularly among artisanal and small-scale miners.
The final 2026 fatality figure will only be known once the year closes and outstanding cases are confirmed. But with mining continuing to expand across gold, lithium, chrome, coal and other mineral operations, the industry’s safety performance will remain closely tied to how effectively Zimbabwe can formalise high-risk operations, strengthen ground-control practices and ensure that inspectors have the resources to enforce existing regulations.
For a sector generating billions of dollars in mineral value, the central measure of progress ultimately remains whether workers return home alive.
