Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

Several women miners in the Shurugwi area of the Midlands province say they have suffered large and disproportionate consequences because of Covid-19 lockdowns and have been slower in recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

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According to the women, they have incurred losses after they failed to service loans that they took from banks before the pandemic to finance their mining operations.

Speaking in an interview, Shurugwi Women in Mining treasurer, Alice Mdutshwa said women are affected by the lockdowns as they fail to utilize their leased mining claims.

“Most of the women have been finding it very difficult to work during COVID-19 lockdowns. During the lockdown, women miners failed to mine on their claims which were leased to them by Falcon Gold through the Shurugwi Development Trust (SDT). This presented a lot of challenges to the miners because they were expected to pay for their rentals yet they were not doing any production,” said Mdutshwa.

Mdutshwa, who is also the former chief executive officer of SDT, said some of the miners were also struggling to service their loans which they took from banks.

“The plight of some of these miners is being worsened by the fact that some borrowed money from the Women Bank and they are now failing to service their loans. If the loans are not written off, the miners risk losing their properties,” said Mdutshwa.

She also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the subscriptions of the association as some members can no longer afford the US$10 monthly subscriptions.

“Since COVID-19 started we have lost a significant number of our membership. A lot of our members would now rather prefer to buy food and pay rentals than to pay subscriptions.

Caroline Mahanangandi, Director of a Mberengwa based mining company, Silver River Mining (PVT) LTD said COVID -19 curfews posed numerous challenges to women miners.

“During the lockdowns, it was very difficult for women miners to access mining accessories. Travelling from Mberengwa to Harare or Bulawayo where most mining equipment is found was not easy. Although mining was declared an essential service during the lockdown, most female miners did not have exemption letters. In future the authorities should consider mining certificates as proof,” said Mahanangandi

The Silver River Mining (PVT) LTD Director said most women miners in her area incurred huge losses due to non -productivity.

“It will take quite some time for some of us to recover from the effects of COVID-19.  During the lockdown we were forced to pay non-productive workers and at the same time look after our families,” she said.

Mahanangandi said at one point, she, her maids and manager tested positive to COVID -19.

“Fortunately, all of us recovered from the disease because we all followed the COVID-19 prevention protocols,” she said.

The miner however bemoaned what she described as lack of information about the pandemic in the area.

While Mahanangandi and her workers were lucky to survive COVID-19, some women miners lost their workers to the deadly pandemic.

“I know some of the miners who have lost workers to COVID-19. Some workers have also not returned to work after the lockdowns. Some of the miners also lost their mining equipment to thieves and vandalism during the lockdown,” said Maria Masimba, Manicaland Women in Mining chairperson.

The chairperson said the pandemic has also stalled resolutions of various mining disputes in the province

She appealed to the government to assist the women miners in re-establishing themselves following almost two years of inaction.

PLAYERS in the mining sector should invest more in exploration operations and research to ascertain the actual mineral reserves before extraction to avoid unnecessary degradation and losses, an industry executive has said.

Speaking during a recent Antech Laboratories open day in Kwekwe, Midlands provincial mines director, Mr Tariro Ndlovu, said unlocking higher mining value should ride on comprehensive exploration and research outcomes.

Antech Laboratories is a Kwekwe based company, which offers mining and exploration services, industry geochemical analysis, mine site assaying and metallurgical testing support mining and exploration companies to measure and develop their resources.

The inaugural open day brought together miners and stakeholders in the mining sector to discuss challenges facing the mining industry and how to overcome them.

“The decisions about exploration and grading should be based on the data generated by these analytical laboratories, not guesswork. Zimbabwe’s mining sector is highly diversified with close to 40 minerals, which are very key in economic development, particularly attaining Vision 2030,” said Mr Ndlovu.

“Zimbabwe’s transition into an upper-middle-income economy status requires reliable and reproducible test results in the mining sector since the country’s economy relies heavily on mining and mineral exploitation.

“Metallurgical assaying laboratories like Antech play a critical role in the mining and mineral processing sector in that it conducts mineral assays in support of exploration, research and control in the processing plant.”

The mine’s director also said exploration was key in the monitoring of the environment as the mining companies carry out their mining activities. The mining sector continues to be the bedrock of the country’s economy in terms of export earnings.

As such, Mr Ndlovu said the Government was committed to the full support of the sector to ensure improved output and quality operational standards.

He said the theme for the event: “Optimising mining operations and exploration through rapid reliable analytical services” was timely and in line with the objectives of the Government’s Vision 2030.

Laboratory manager Mr Edson Luwobo highlighted the need to strengthen synergies between mining and exploration industry and assaying labs.

The Chronicle

The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has said it requires $8 million to enhance efforts towards the resuscitation of closed mines through engagement with investors and relevant stakeholders.

Mines Minister Winston Chitando, speaking at the 2022 pre-budget seminar, said more effort is also being done through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) whereby they are engaging various investors to reopen closed mines.

“The public urged the government to set aside resources for opening up closed mines across the country in order to raise more revenue and create employment.

“A total of $8,172,604 is required to support promotional activities, engagement with investors and relevant stakeholders towards the reopening of closed mines,” he said.

Minister Chitando said the government has come up with various incentives, both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, to attract investment as the country strives to attain the target of a USD12 billion industry by the year 2023.

The US$12 billion industry ultimately feeds into the Government’s vision of Zimbabwe becoming an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030.

“It is important to benchmark our incentives regionally and globally and the Ministry does that periodically,” he said.

He noted that in terms of the Mines and Minerals Act [Chapter 21:05], any mining company that invests more than US$100 million may apply for a Special Mining Lease which allows the company to negotiate various tax concessions with the Government.

Minister Chitando also said that the Ministry will capacitate Mining Promotion Corporation (MPC) by approximately $5 million to help it spearhead the exploration needs for the year 2022 by the private sector and that of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey.

He said in line with Devolution and Decentralization, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development is planning to establish offices in a number of communities including Hwange, Kadoma, Zvishavane and Lupane.

Minister Chitando said the ministry is seeking to transform the Lupane office into a fullyfledged Provincial Office as currently the Bulawayo Metropolitan hosts most of the staff and operations of the province.

“Funding will therefore be required for acquisition of land, construction of appropriate offices, fully furnishing the offices and provision of requisite tools of trade. In this regard the Ministry requires $150 million to achieve this target,” he said.

According to Minister Chitando, currently there are two Lithium Producers in Zimbabwe. He said

Prospect Resources commissioned their lithium processing pilot plant in June 2021.

He said the pilot plant is producing petalite ore with four percent lithium and 0,05 percent iron oxide.

“The low iron quantity makes the product highly marketable. Phase 1 of the Arcadia Lithium Project will establish a plant that produces Low Iron Spodumene used in the Chemical Industry and Ultra Low Iron Petalite used in the Industrial Market.

“Phase 2 will establish a Lithium Hydroxide Plant and this plant will beneficiate low iron spodumene into Lithium Hydroxide, Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Sulphide.”

Business Weekly

Villagers in Dinde village, Hwange district have petitioned Beifa Investments, a Chinese-owned mining company, exploring for coal in the Dinde area to halt any mining activities which they claim are violating the culture and heritage of the Nambya people.

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Beifa Investments torched a storm recently when it started exploring for coal in Ward 13, Dinde without consulting villagers.

The villagers fear over 600 families will be displaced if the project continues and have accused local leaders including the traditional leader, Chief Nekatambe and Hwange Rural District Council officials of nicodemously allowing the mining company to continue carrying out the exploration work despite their protests. They also fear their relatives’ grave graves and sacred shrines will be violated.

A rural women’s roundtable meeting organised by the Matabeleland Institute For Human Rights (MIHR) also addressed the issue.

Thembelihle Dlamini, a villager in Dinde and a committee member of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe said there was panic in Dinde Village as eviction was imminent.

“The company did not even consult us that they have intentions of coming to operate at our place. The company is now digging our graves. They should have asked for permission from us, probably we would have performed rituals on these cemeteries,” Dlamini said.

She said the Dinde village is living in fear of eviction.

“We have built schools, clinics and as women, we have our businesses that we have established there.

“As I am talking now, about 600 families or even more are affected. Recently, precious stones were discovered in about four villages in Hwange.

“All those communities will be evicted,” Dlamini said as she appealed to the government to save the community from eviction.

“We also have our river called Nyanduwe and there is gas that is emitted from their working place. It might affect our water and this would make us sick. We are faced with danger as we are prone to contract diseases in the area.”

The Chinese miners are reportedly claiming that they have a special grant from the government, however, they have not produced it despite several demands for them by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

The villagers’ petition being circulated to gather more people’s signatures reads: “Beifa Investments and Hwange Rural District Council did not carry out proper consultative meetings with the communities and hence this has brought about conflict with the communities involved and Hwange district at large.”

Dinde is home to thousands of Nambyas and Tongas with a majority of Tonga who first settled in the then-named Whange district up to Victoria Falls.

They were resettled in Dinde after their relocation from Sinamatela area in the 1920s to pave way for the Hwange National Park.

An environmental consultant, Oliver Mutasa said there was little the community can do to stop the exploration process.

“Unless if it’s an ecological area like a national park, but unfortunately for an area like Dinde, once a special grant is given, mining activities cannot be stopped,” he said.

“However, if there should be displacement, there should be compensation. Sometimes people lose out on compensation because instead of contributing to the EIA they oppose the whole process. What people need to do is contribute on what they want the miner to do as part of corporate social responsibility.”

MIHR coordinator Khumbulani Maphosa said the government must formulate a human rights-based framework to prevent development-induced evictions.

He said human rights constitutional bodies should be involved first whenever there is an eviction

“Then they do the impact assessment. We trust these commissions better than these consultants hired by the companies because they are paid by the company. These commissions we trust because they are for us,” Maphosa said.