Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

Mining companies in Limpopo are not fully complying with laws compelling them to uplift local communities. This is according to a report released yesterday based on research by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Amnesty International and Sekhukhune Combined Mining Affected Communities (SMAC).

Shenilla Mohamed, executive director of Amnesty International South Africa, said mine owners had an obligation to the surrounding communities and to “adhere to social plans”.

Mohamed added that the government needs to be held accountable too.

The research was done between October 2020 and July 2021 in the mineral-rich but underresourced Sekhukhune region, which has an unemployment rate of 47 percent.

It focussed on three companies, Twickenham Platinum Mine, Marula Platinum Mine and Sefateng Chrome Mine, and their compliance with legal obligations to submit and implement Social and Labour Plans (SLPs).

Researchers say the obligation on companies to comply and report to the regulator on compliance with SLP’s comes directly from the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, which makes SLPs a condition for the award and renewal of mining rights.

SLPs must contain a number of measures to benefit communities and workers. They should also include basic services and infrastructure-type projects formulated in consultation with communities.

According to the report, SLPs were introduced to offset the “dark and sordid history” of discrimination, exploitation and exclusion in the mining industry.

The research finds that there were varying levels of non-compliance by the three
companies.

Researchers gave each of the companies an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

The report found that Twickenham, a subsidiary of Anglo American Platinum Limited, failed to complete a project to provide water and toilets to local schools. Anglo American Platinum Limited is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum.

Researchers said that when pressed for answers, the company acknowledged delays in implementation. “They gave no reasons in some cases and in others blamed project procurement irregularities,” the researchers said.

“Marula, another platinum mine, claimed in its most recent Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report that it had completed an SLP project to build and rehabilitate a road. But site visits by the research team and interviews with community members contradicted this,” the report read.

Researchers said that the lack of adequate roads has resulted in mobile clinics avoiding affected villages and community members facing great difficulty in accessing clinics and hospitals.

The report found that Sefateng was only partially compliant with its community water support and schools support projects. Information received from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) indicated that Sefateng was not submitting annual compliance reports.

“This would be in direct contravention of national mining legislation. However, in their response to the research team, Sefateng denied this and noted that they have been complying with this obligation,” the report said.

Researchers highlighted the failure by the department to properly monitor compliance, in part because of the lack of resources.

They said the department had a poor record management system; had hindered access to information; and was unable to enforce compliance “resulting in communities feeling abandoned and unable to enjoy human rights such as the rights to education, access to healthcare, livelihoods and water”.

The researchers said a direct link between mining and the challenges faced by the communities could not be established but that the failure of mines in general to implement SLPs was a “compounding factor”, warranting further investigation.

Community members interviewed for the report also complained of polluted water sources and many suggested that they and their livestock suffered serious health complications.

“The overall picture painted by interviewees was a range of negative environmental, social and economic outcomes, gender inequality and a lack of adequate grievance mechanisms.”

The researchers recommended that the three mines urgently comply with their legally binding obligations.
The report also recommended that the state develop and implement a plan that ensures proper monitoring, with penalties for companies in the event of non-compliance.

“We further recommend that, whether through regulations or legislative measures, that all company SLP reports to the DMRE are publicly disclosed and made available and accessible to employees, communities and other stakeholders.”

The researchers said they had attempted on numerous occasions to engage with the department but had not received responses.

GroundUp also approached the department but did not hear back from officials by the time of publication.
Companies respond to allegations in the report Anglo American Platinum told GroundUp that the Twickenham project was placed on care and maintenance in 2016, limiting employment and business opportunities at the operation.

Currently, three of the 12 projects in its SLP between 2016 and 2020 remain incomplete due to various challenges.
“We take our SLP obligations seriously. Unfortunately, our efforts to meet our SLP obligations are sometimes affected by external factors beyond our control.

These include, but are not limited to, delays at local government and DMRE level, difficulties in our engagements with the communities, community conflict and obstacles arising from the appointment of contractors.”

The company said it had already started work on its SLP for 2021 to 2025. “We continue to study options to ensure a sustainable future for Twickenham that will benefit communities and the broader Limpopo province.”

Implats’ Marula Mine said it had grown community investment. The company said it “engages in sustainable socioeconomic development to mitigate, where it can, adverse conditions”.

It said 7,5 percent of the mine was owned by the local community through a trust and employees also had a stake. The company said 74 percent of its workforce are local residents and “total remuneration at Marula is approximately R1,6-billion annually”.

“While providing and maintaining roads fits within the ambit of the government, we fully recognise the benefits of being able to travel safely to and from work and elsewhere.

“To the extent that this infrastructure is lacking or poorly maintained, we endeavour to assist, where possible.”

The company said it had built a 12.5km tarred road (the D4170) at a cost of over R200 million, in partnership with Road Agency Limpopo over the past five years. Marula contributed R32 million to this project.

The company said it had also paid for maintenance on other roads and the construction of a bridge.

Sefateng’s chief executive Gerard Blaawu said: “It was a privilege for us to have been part of the sample group of mines in this study. There are various administrative shortcomings, communication gaps between national and local bodies, regulators, struggling municipalities as well as financial challenges.” – Moneyweb

He said that of their projects that were reviewed, they were starting to get one complaint.

The other two were partially compliant, with gaps mainly due to administrative processes and/or the municipality finding it hard to upkeep services built on their behalf.

Since the research was finalised, the mine moved from 75 percent to 80 percent compliance.

“We take to heart the recommendations in the report. Regardless of the level of applicability, we are committed to work with the regulator and other parties to implement these recommendations.”- Moneyweb

INVICTUS Energy Limited (IEL) says the processing and reprocessing of data around the Cabora Bassa project has shown signs of hydrocarbons, confirming potential natural gas and crude oil deposits.

Last year, IEL conducted a 2D Seismic Survey of the Cabora Bassa area, located in the northern part of the country, as part of its exploration into the area to find potential gas and oil deposits.

This is because the Cabora Bassa project encompasses the Mzarabani prospect, a multi-trillion cubic feet and liquid-rich conventional gas-condensate area.

“The parameters employed for the acquisition of the CB21 survey, along with modern data processing technology have significantly elevated the data quality to a high standard,” IEL said in a statement.

“As the interpretation is progressing, multiple anomalies have been noted in the basin’s seismic data.

“These can often be indicators for the presence of hydrocarbons.

“These anomalies will be investigated with additional data processing products produced by Earth Signal Processing.

“Their geophysical signature, as well as trapping geometry and position (structurally and stratigraphically) will then be evaluated.

“This will allow the anomalies to be assessed and ranked to ascertain the likelihood of viable hydrocarbons within a definable trap.”

The data processing of the 2021 Cabora Bassa 2D Seismic Survey and concurrent reprocessing of a legacy Mobil dataset has largely been completed by onshore high-resolution data specialists, Earth Signal Processing in Calgary, Canada.

IEL hired Earth Signal Processing last year.

It was hired for its expertise in onshore, high-resolution 2D and 3D seismic data processing.

The Mzarabani prospect is defined by a robust dataset acquired by Mobil, a United States-based oil firm, in the early 1990s that includes seismic, gravity, aeromagnetic and geochemical data.

Mobil explored for oil in Muzarabani in the early 1990s, before IEL purchased the dataset.

IEL said all key products had been received by the firm and that seismic interpretation was progressing.

IEL has an 80% ownership in the Cabora Bassa project.

“The maiden drilling programme to test the world-class Muzarabani prospect is coming together well.

“We are pleased to have secured Exalo’s rig 202 as well as well services with Baker Hughes and long-lead items,” Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan said.

He said final seismic data had provided evidence of multiple trapping geometries and a target rich environment for the upcoming drilling programme.

“The drilling campaign is scheduled to commence in June 2022 and we are working towards a two-well programme.

“The company is maturing additional potential within our acreage and continuing to build on our significant prospective resource inventory,” Macmillan said.

Invictus is expecting to drill the first of its two test wells later this year, which will be crucial in determining the quality and quantity of oil or gas found in the area.

NewsDay

Zimbabwe Diamonds and Allied Mine Workers Union (ZDAWMU) has challenged the government-controlled  Kuvimba Mining House’s bid to fire underground workers at Jena Mines in the Midlands province.

Jena, a gold mine, is situated about 80km north of Kwekwe.

ZDAWMU secretary-general Justice Chinhema said the move to send 140 workers home was illegal.

‘‘When Kuvimba House Mining came in, they over-employed, which they are now failing to sustain. The termination of their employment is not fair in that most of the affected are underground workers who by law are deemed permanent,’’ Chinhema said.

He said some of the affected workers had been hired for a few weeks before they got termination letters.

‘‘To be honest, some of them had worked for only two to three weeks and now they are being fired.  This is unfair labour practice,’’ he said.

“Some of these workers were by law permanent in terms of Statutory Instrument (SI) 109 of 1993 after working for several months or years at the mine. The SI adds that underground production workers must be permanently engaged.”

The affected workers were told to report to the human resources manager to discuss their terminal benefits.

The manager Joseph Chitendere said he was not in a position to comment on the matter.

“We don’t discuss the mine operations through the media,’’ he said.

NewsDay

MINING companies are more bullish of prospects this year as compared to 2021, raising expectations of another robust performance from the sector.

However, they say they are losing half the value of the portion of export earnings they sell to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in exchange for local currency at the ruling official exchange rate.

Overall, they claim to be losing about 20 percent of the gross value of their export earnings, which they say is negatively impacting viability.

Electricity shortages and the high cost of capital are some of the challenges the sector is grappling with.

Last year, mining, which grossed more than US$5,5 billion, generated about 75 percent of the country’s export earnings.

It currently accounts for roughly 16 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CoMZ) said while miners liquidated 40 percent of their earnings at the official auction exchange rate, they buy inputs priced above the parallel market rate.

The gap between the auction exchange rate — at $124/US$1 at the last session — and open market rate has widened to about 100 percent from 20 percent previously.

“Mining houses are losing more than 50 percent of the value of the surrendered portion of export proceeds that is liquidated at the official auction market rate at a time they face local input costs priced at premiums above the parallel market rate,” CoMZ said last week.

An industry survey by CoMZ released in October last year established that the value of the surrender portion liquidated at the official auction rate was being significantly eroded due to the negative impact of the parallel market rate, which is used for pricing goods and services by local suppliers.

The mining sector rebounded by 3,4 percent in 2021 after a 9,4 percent decline the prior year, spurred by strong global commodity prices.

The sector is expected to grow 8 percent this year, as a number of mining houses are anticipated to ramp up production, while global prices are forecast to remain strong.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando earlier this year said Zimbabwe earned at least US$5 billion from mineral exports in 2021.

He said investments by mining entities in recent years boosted output and placed the country on course to meet its target of a US$12 billion mining industry target by next year.

“The industry was US$2,7 billion in 2017 and the milestone to earn US$12 billion by 2023 was set. The fact of the matter is every day we are moving towards the attainment of US$12 billion by 2023; it will be achieved and it is being achieved every day,” he said.

The Sunday Mail

MINERS’ representative bodies have called for increased health and safety training programmes targeting women in mining to minimise their exposure to risks.

More women are joining the mining sector hence the need to train them on health and safety to reduce hazards associated with mining.

Many women had in the past been reluctant to join mining because of the dangers associated with mining activities.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) member who is also the Zvishavane Glory Women in Mining Association chairlady, Mrs Chiedza Tsikai, said there was an urgent need to train women in mining on health and safety.

“The number of women joining the mining sector is growing and there is therefore a need to come up with training programmes targeting women. These women lack information on safe mining mothods and as such many fall victim of hazards associated with mining activities,” she said.

Mrs Tsikai said women need to be trained so that they employ proper mining standards that reduces risks while boosting production.

She said women make up more than 10 percent of artisanal and small-scale miners and many of them were in urgent need of working capital to buy consumables and machinery.

Mrs Tsikai said in Zvishavane many women were into chrome and gold mining but many of them did not have the required machinery.

“Most women are hiring compressors, excavators, water pumps and generators among other machinery and equipment,” said Mrs Tsikai.

She said the miners were therefore realising very little profits as most of the money was gobbled by hiring plant and equipment.

Mrs Tsikai said some sponsors who purport to be assisting women miners were actually robbing them.

She said like other businesses, women in mining were adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which forced them to suspend operations at the peak of pandemic.

Mrs Tsikai said the other challenge facing women miners is that they cannot be at the mine for 24 hours as they have other responsibilities of as wives, mothers and care givers.

Young Miners Foundation (YMF)’s Young Women Affairs director Mrs Everdine Deshe said as an organisation they were stepping up efforts to develop projects that specifically speak to the development of young women miners.

“As men have remained the gate keepers in the mining sector, it has increasingly been difficult for women to excel in this male dominated industry due to a number of factors, which range from gender discrimination, gender violence, general misconceptions and myths,” she said.

Mrs Deshe said they intend to provide a platform that will assist women intending to join the mining industry by providing them with information on where they can seek support.

YMF brand ambassador who is also the Founder and chief executive officer of the Miss Mines Zimbabwe beauty pageant Ms Nomsa Hilda Mpofu said there was a need for awareness on mining business, women empowerment and protection programmes in the mining sector. 

The Chronicle

A GIANT Chinese tile manufacturer is embroiled in a messy row involving theft of one of the major raw materials for its Norton factory in a scandal that is likely to expose how it allegedly manipulates law enforcement agencies in Zimbabwe to bully small businesses.

Sunny Yi Feng Tiles Zimbabwe, a Chinese-owned billion-dollar ceramics venture located some 30km from Harare on the highway to Bulawayo, has in the past come under the spotlight for alleged gross violations of labour rights amid allegations that it is being shielded from scrutiny by senior Zanu PF and government officials.

An investigation unearthed evidence that the Chinese-owned firm has been a subject of discussions at high level government meetings in Mashonaland West over its alleged environmental crimes for years without any action being taken against it.

The Chinese firm is accused of a litany of transgressions that include violating Zimbabwe’s environmental laws such as discharging of effluent into Darwendale Dam, air pollution and stealing of pit sand as well as gravel.

Fresh evidence has since emerged that the company is involved in alleged theft of kaolinite ore or kaolin — a clay mineral that is used in the manufacture of ceramic tiles — from a locally owned mine in Murombedzi in Mashonaland West with police accused of being reluctant to stop the looting.

Documents obtained by this publication show that Astrabay Mine, which owns a mining claim in Zowa, Murombedzi some 90km from Chinhoyi, has been battling to fend off Sunny Yi Feng, which has been illegally extracting kaolin from its claim.

Astrabay Mine’s woes started when the company engaged Sunny Ti Feng co-director William Gau sometime in 2018 to discuss a possible deal for the supply of kaolin.

Gau is said to have insisted on visiting the mine to assess the distance to the Sunny Yi Feng factory in Norton and state of the road before determining prices for the natural resource.

After the visit, Sunny Yi Feng expressed interest to source kaolin from Astrabay Mine, but the deal collapsed as Gau’s company offered to buy the mineral at US$3 per tonne, a figure the mine owners deemed too low for the raw material.

A tonne of kaolin ore ranges from US$65 to US$70 depending on the mineral content within the alloy.

Sunny Yi Feng, however, secretly tried to take over the claim by registering it with the Mines and Mining Development ministry, but was stopped in its tracks by the alert mine owners.

“This was a way of trying to steal (the claim),” said Muyengwa Motsi, the Astrabay lawyer.

In April 2020, Sunny Yi Feng started to surreptitiously send trucks to Murombedzi to steal ore from the mine, documents show.

Astrabay filed a police report against the Chinese company in Zvimba under CR 29/07/2020.

The Mines ministry’s department of metallurgy valued the stolen ore at US$4 174 444, but efforts to get the company prosecuted fell flat as police allegedly refused to cooperate.

On February 4, 2021, Astrabay, through M.E Motsi and Associates Legal Practitioners, wrote to Chinhoyi police’s criminal investigations department (CID) complaining over lack of commitment to investigate the case.

A complaint filed against police’s handling of the case involving the Chinese firm

In response, the CID said “we are not getting cooperation from the Chinese” to proceed with the investigation.”

“In June 2021, we then got another tip-off that they were stealing for the second time,” Motsi told The Standard.

“We went and got some escort from two CID officers and intercepted seven trucks, which were fully loaded with kaolin ore.

“The truck drivers were instructed by the police to go and park at Murombedzi police station, but they somehow sped off to Norton.

“We did not have any means to stop them as we were poorly equipped.

“They could, however, not escape with an excavator which was still on the ground as it required a truck to lift and transport it.

“They then sent a truck the following day to collect the excavator, but police anticipated this and mounted a roadblock to intercept the truck, which they took as an exhibit for Chinhoyi CID.

“The excavator was later released under unclear circumstances.”

In February 2021, Astrabay wrote a letter of complaint against an investigating officer identified as Detective Constable Musindo for failing to arrest the Chinese company’s directors Gau and another one only identified as Wang over the offences.

CID director M Magandi responded to the complaint on April 24, 2021 defending the detective, saying “he made all the efforts to arrest the three accused persons.”

On February 8 2021, the mine also received a written response from Assistant Commissioner PT Majuta who insisted the cases were “receiving attention.”

A month later, Astrabay’s lawyers wrote to CID Chinhoyi, but there was still no movement on the cases.

Frustrated by the logjam, the mine’s lawyers wrote to the National Prosecuting Authority on November 8, 2021 questioning what they viewed as preferential treatment being given to the Chinese nationals in what should have been a straightforward criminal matter.

“With due respect to your office, what do you expect us to conclude with such conduct?

“Many police stations are full of exhibits in many forms of articles seized from locals pending trial,” the lawyers wrote.

“What is so special about these Chinese?

“They are not placed on remand, exhibits are not impounded, those that find their way into a public station are released to them to enable them to commit further offences with the same equipment.”

In one of the cases, a Sunny Yi Feng driver, Artwell Kaso on July 13, 2020 admitted stealing 120 tonnes of kaolin in a warned and cautioned statement to the police.

“I admit to the charges levelled against Sunny Yi Feng Company…but it was given authority to mine by G&W mineral company which was claiming to be the registered owner of the mine,” Kaso claimed.

“The company paid money to G&W mineral company to mine there.”

Astrabay owners dismissed claims that they had a dispute with G&W as a ruse.  Sunny Yi Feng did not stop sending trucks to loot kaolin after that incident.

The most recent case was on February 9, when drivers employed by the Chinese company were caught red handed stealing ore from Astrabay Mine.

“We had gone to the mine with some Ministry of Mines officials on issues of beacons and we found them there,” Motsi said.

“We anticipated the incident as on the evening before, we got wind that their trucks had gone to our mine.

“We went to Chinhoyi police to get some five armed officers from the district reaction group.

“Police were very cooperative, and we managed to impound some seven trucks and the same excavator used in the previous theft, which was released without any explanation.

“Our handicap was that we could not get the excavator as an exhibit again without a low-bed truck which is used to lift it. So, we left it at the site.”

The trucks were taken to the Chinhoyi police station, but two of the truck drivers escaped. Three trucks were released because they were yet to be loaded with ore.

“So, we took two fully loaded trucks to Chinhoyi police,” Motsi added. “On this third theft, we arrested six truck drivers.

The registration numbers for the trucks that were intercepted are ADC 8084, ADC 8085, ADC 8876, AEU 5782, AEU 6828, AEU 6830 and AEZ 4950.

“The matter is yet to go to court as we are waiting to get a report from the department of metallurgy to assay the mineral content and value of the stolen ore,” he said.

Police confirmed the incident in a February 11, 2022 letter to the Mines ministry where they were seeking help to evaluate the stolen ore.

A Detective Inspector Dale, who is in charge of Chinhoyi CID minerals, flora and fauna wrote: “This office is investigating a case of contravening section 379 of the Mines and Minerals Act Chapter 21:05 ‘Theft of mineral ore’ where the three accused persons Energy Chiridza, Munyaradzi Mutyavaviri and Sunny Yi Feng Tiles Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd represented by Terrify Taruvinga stole kaolin ore from Astrabay Mine, Zowa 10, Makonde Chinhoyi.’

“The current (officer in charge) is very useful, but you can tell that he is being overwhelmed by forces he cannot control,” Motsi said.

“We have tried to even engage the Chinese company owners themselves, but these people do not have time for us”

Terrify Taruvinga, the Sunny Yi Feng deputy director, said he needed time to consult the company’s lawyers before commenting on the allegations.

Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the law enforcement agents were not to blame for delays in the prosecution of the Chinese firm’s directors.

“There are three reports related to this matter and the police has done its job by compiling dockets, which are now within the courts’ jurisdiction,” Nyathi told The Standard.

“However, it appears that there is an on-going dispute between these two companies (Astrabay and G&W), which are both claiming rights over the mining claim.

“So, that issue is being handled by the Ministry of Mines, which is the relevant authority to deal with the matter.”

Motsi said there was no dispute over the kaolin claims, but the matter was raised by one of the Sunny Yi Feng drivers to escape arrest after he was found stealing ore at the mine.

The Standard