Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

The Kimber Processing (KP) is neglecting and failing to protect people against new forms of conflicts affecting the diamond sector, Kimberley Process Civil Society Coordinator and Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) Deputy Director Shamiso Mtisi said.

Anerudo Mapuranga

Mtisi during the opening session of the KP Intersessional meeting said the rise of synthetic diamonds a revelation for the KP to relook on its roles making sure that the marginalized societies in the diamond industry are protected from the ills in the sector.

The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coordinator said the KP was supposed to take a leaf from Pandora which has decided to move from mined diamond to synthetic due to the controversies surrounding the diamond industry.

“The rise of synthetic diamonds should be a wake-up call for rough diamond producing countries as it may affect their economies. Each generation is defined by its technologies.

“The age of synthetic diamonds, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data requires the rough diamond sector at the level of producers, traders and cutting and polishing industries to adapt.

“Adaptation entails embracing advances in scientific and social norms dictated by the needs of new generations. Governments equally need to start listening to these changing concerns to fix the problems in the diamond value chain.

 “As an example, one of the worlds biggest jewellers, Pandora, said this year it will no longer sell mined diamonds and will switch exclusively to laboratory-made diamonds due to concerns about sustainability, human rights abuses, environmental harm and poor labour standards associated with mined diamonds. This highlights that the problems the KP CSC is pointing to may be difficult for some of you to hear, but these problems don’t disappear if you simply look the other way.” Mtisi said.

Mtisi said the Kimberley Process Civil Society has been working outside the KP in an effort to bring sanity to the diamond industry due to the fact that despite the presence of the KP, criminal elements continue to benefit from diamonds at the expense of local communities.

“We have also deliberately been working more outside the KP, reaching out to members of the diamond industry, retailers, jewellers, consumers and other NGOs that are willing to listen to and understand the message we have been trying to convey in the KP for years.

“These actors appear prepared to expose the duplicity of the KP, with ill-intentioned actors and criminals hiding behind its failings to continue profiting at the expense of local communities, through undervaluation of diamonds, revenue mismanagement and violence.

“We will continue working much more closely with millennial and Generation Z consumers who want to buy ethically sourced diamonds. The future of the industry relies on keeping these consumers on board, and thus taking actions to curb illegality, human rights violations, environmental harm and poor working conditions.” He said.

According to Mtisi it was of importance for KP to start working the talk through giving voice to the voiceless and protecting communities from diamond conflicts.

“It is our mission and responsibility to bring the voice of these marginalized communities to this forum, as we feel many of the discussions we are having here are so disconnected from this reality. We want to open this forum by sharing some of the reports we have collected or come across, in the hope that all of you will keep this reality in mind, throughout this week’s discussions. This is a call to all KP Participants and Observers to meaningfully address these concerns so that we don’t have to go back to our constituencies and explain that the KP has no relevance for them. This is a selection of some of the reports that concern us most:

“ In CAR, in addition to the devastating civil war, there are new reports of mercenaries violently expelling locals from diamond mines, in complicity with the national army, through a fear campaign of rape, torture and indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

• In Tanzania, a private security company protecting the Williamson Diamond Mine of Petra Diamonds, one of the largest diamond companies in the world, is accused of shooting dozens of locals in the past years, leading to their death or life-changing injuries. The company has come to a settlement with a number of the victim’s families recently, but it remains to be seen whether that will be satisfactory, and more importantly whether the violence will stop.
• In Lesotho, communities around Gem Diamonds’ Letseng mine, the highest value per carat mine in the world, live in constant fear that the mine’s tailing dams will burst, and that their drinking water is polluted, with the mine unable to provide them any assurances.
• In Zimbabwe, locals are asking to stop digging up diamonds as these stones do more harm than good, with reports of public and private security services being involved in using violence and abusing artisanal miners and locals. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company and any new actors have legacy issues and a duty to seriously address and clean the image of diamonds in Zimbabwe.
• Again, in Zimbabwe, Murowa Diamonds, a member of the Natural Diamond Council, committed to promoting responsible sourcing standards, is repeatedly being accused by local communities of drilling and exploring for diamonds less than 100m from a school thereby disrupting learning activities and the children’s right to education.
• In Sierra Leone, communities have for years been unsuccessfully trying to get compensation from Octea’s Koidu mine, where they claim to be forcibly removed from their homes, their farmland buried under rubble, and their water sources polluted.
• In Angola’s Lunda Norte province, communities report that their protests against the destruction of villages and livelihoods because of diamond mining continue to be violently suppressed.
• In Brazil, there is growing concern that criminal groups mining for gold and diamonds in the Amazon are destroying the environment and assaulting indigenous groups.
• Efforts to formalize artisanal mining in South Africa – with the development of the Draft ASM Policy – and Zimbabwe also thinking of developing an ASM Policy, should include measures for communities to benefit from the diamond mining sector as well. Failure to formalize artisanal mining sponsors chaos and allows criminal networks to thrive.
• In addition to all the above, artisanal miners continue to struggle with the impact of COVID19. While the world market sales and prices are rapidly recovering, artisanal miners continue to receive drastically reduced prices. These are up to 50% less than before the pandemic, seriously cutting their household budgets.

“I know that many of you are thinking that dealing with these concerns is not the KP’s responsibility. But at the same time, all of you like to say that the KP is conflict prevention or even a responsible sourcing mechanism. There is a problematic contradiction in that.

“Many of you also think that it is enough that the KP allows civil society to speak out on such issues, or that documenting and reporting human rights concerns is the sole responsibility of civil society. This is another problematic misconception. This should be a shared effort that concerns us all, be it in civil society, government or industry.

“You cannot keep on relying on our limited resources to bring the problems in your supply chains to light. These problems are not just our problems. Bad practices and bad actors contaminating the diamond trade are a threat to all of us. At present those who commit these human rights violations are not held to account, not by governments, nor by industry who are trading their diamonds. An important question for this forum is how the KP will ensure that these abusers are held accountable for their actions.

The Central African Republic

“With regard to the Central African Republic, it is in our view, time to look back and zoom out. The KP embargo on CAR has been in place for 8 years now, in different forms. But what has it achieved? The country is still at war, and communities whose livelihoods depend on diamonds are suffering even more and are driven into the hands of criminal networks and armed groups. Illicit trade and trade in conflict diamonds is flourishing. Over 90% of diamonds continue to be smuggled out of the country. The KP will never be able to stop this by looking only at the CAR. These stones find their way to the market via other countries, where they get KP certification, with numerous reports mentioning neighbouring countries, not only Cameroon, but also trading hubs like the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. These countries need to be involved in seeking a solution to this lingering problem. Enforcing border and custom control measures and cooperation are key tenets that should be strengthened through cooperation between KP Participants.

Principles for Responsible Diamond Sourcing

“We view the development of principles for responsible sourcing as something worth engaging on. Yet, our questions with regard to implementation, monitoring and the duties and obligations of Participants in this regard, remain unanswered to date. We hope that these elements will be part of the discussion during this Intersessional, so that the KP finally moves from talking the talk, to walking the walk.” Mtisi said.

Crude oil prices rose yesterday, with Brent hitting $75 a barrel for the first time since April 2019, as investors remained bullish about a quick recovery in global oil demand and as concerns eased over an early return of Iranian crude.

Brent crude futures for August climbed 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $75.19 a barrel by 06:58 GMT, paring earlier losses. It rose as high as $75.27 a barrel, the strongest since April 25, 2019, earlier in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July was at $73.66 a barrel, unchanged from the previous session.

WTI for August climbed 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $73.25 a barrel.

Brent gained 1.9 percent and WTI jumped 2.8 percent on Monday.

Both benchmarks have risen for the past four weeks on optimism over the pace of global Covid-19 vaccinations and expected pick-up in summer travel.

“The market sentiment stays strong with improved outlook for global demand,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities, adding that a rally in Asian stock markets is also helping boost risk appetite among investors.

Global shares yesterday extended their recovery from four-week lows as investors focused on prospects for post-pandemic economic growth, rather than fret more over the hawkish stance taken by the US Federal Reserve at a policy meeting last week.-Al Jazeera.

The Bank has noted with serious concern the continued circulation of false and malicious articles on social media alleging that Zimbabweans will no longer be able to pay for goods and services in foreign currency, particularly one article captioned

“Foreign currency no longer legal tender”. These articles and statements are false and should be treated with the contempt they deserve, as there is no policy or law that prohibits the use of foreign currency in Zimbabwe as alleged.

The articles are at the behest of irresponsible, mischievous and malicious people who are always bent on purveying false statements calculated to cause unnecessary anxiety, panic, alarm and despondency within the economy. The statements are also calculated to discredit Government and the Bank’s progressive efforts and achievements in stabilising and growing the economy.

The Bank wishes to reiterate that the public can pay for goods and services in local currency or foreign currency in accordance with the laws of the country and that they should ignore the malicious rumours being circulated on social media.

The Zimbabwean government last week approved two new mining agreements with two companies targeting gold and coal bed-methane production.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa said the gold mining project involved Bravura Zimbabwe while the coal bed-methane venture is with an Australian company called Jacqueline Resources (Pvt).

Both projects are expected to aid government ambitious agenda towards attainment of a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023.

“The Bravura agreement will see the State granting a concession in the Fort Rixon area to Bravura,” Mutsvangwa said.

Bravura, which is expected to carry out exploration, exploitation and processing of gold and allied minerals, is expected to have an 80 percent stake in the venture and government 20.

“An operating committee will also be set up for the development and exploitation programme, whose composition shall be defined in the Operating Agreement,” the minister said.

Regarding the coal bed methane project with Jacqueline Resources, the two parties are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding covering among others profit sharing, appointment of key project personnel; and ownership of the project intellectual property rights.
“The joint venture project and production licence shall run for 20 years with an option for renewal upon expiry of the period,” Mutsvangwa said.

“A management committee comprising equal representation from both parties shall be established to oversee the finalization of the Exploration programme, the grant of title in respect of the project area, and the negotiation and execution of the joint venture agreement.”

NewZiana

Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company’s (ZCDC) Chief Executive Officer, Mark Mabhudhu has been crowned Eastern Region Megafest CEO of the year Platinum award for his outstanding business leadership.

Mabhudhu was honoured for his innovative leadership style -supreme business excellence and high standards of ethical conduct, integrity, civic and social responsibility.

The Megafest Business Awards ceremony was held at Golden Peacock Hotel in Mutare recently where various Manicaland- based companies and executives were recognized for their contributions to the development of the region.

Mabhudhu has over 28 years of experience in the mining industry locally and internationally.

Mabhudhu started his career in 1990 at Rio Tinto Cam Dump Gold Retreatment Plant as a metallurgical student on attachment where he performed metallurgical test-work and material balance schemes.

He also had an opportunity to familiarize with the Empress Nickel Refinery and learnt the entire business value chain of the operations.

He later joined Lomagundi /Alaska Smelting and Refinery (Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation), again on attachment.
In 1993, he was employed by Auridiam Zimbabwe (Pvt.) Ltd – River Ranch Diamond Mine for three years where he designed and built, commissioned and optimized the plant.

Between 1996-1999, he moved to BHP Zimbabwe (Pty) Ltd – Hartley Platinum Mine as a Process Metallurgical Engineer where he built and commissioned the Hartley Platinum Complex including the Concentrator plant, Smelter and Refinery plants, optimized the Concentrator plant and ramped production to full capacity.

He recruited, trained and developed plant personnel across the plant operations. He rose through the ranks to plant superintendent level.

He then joined Debswana Diamond Mining Company – Jwaneng Mine in 1999 – April 2009 where he built, commissioned and optimised the state-of-the-art diamond processing and recovery plant.

While at Jwaneng Mine, he obtained full understanding of the entire value chain into diamond valuation, as well as the cutting and polishing industry.

He rose through the ranks from mineral process engineer to the technical process manager and finally strategy executive of the organization.
Mabhudhu was appointed the inaugural CEO of PAASOL Resources Zimbabwe (Pty) Ltd in August 2009-2010 and ratified by the Board of Directors to provide leadership and direction of this start-up organization.

In 2010, he moved to Marange Resources (Pvt) Ltd. where he rose through the ranks to become acting CEO between 2014–2015.
In 2018, he went on to join Vast Resources PLC – Diamond Business as a Consultant/Executive Director in charge of directing and leading the firm’s aspirations of becoming a prominent mining house in the country as well as internationally with particular focus on diamonds and setting up the Zimbabwe mining operations.

In September 2020, Mabhudhu re-joined ZCDC as the substantive Chief Executive Officer with the sole responsibility of repositioning the diamond company into a profit-making entity in line with shareholder and stakeholder expectations.

Mabhudhu has a BSc (Hons) Engineering – Metallurgical from the University of Zimbabwe in 1992 and was awarded a Book Prize (Top Student), Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the Buckinghamshire Chilten’s University College in UK (2000) and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at the same University in 2001 where he was also awarded Top Student Prize. He has a Master of Philosophy in Information and Knowledge Management (MIKM) from the University of Stellenbosch (RSA) (2008) and is currently undertaking a Doctoral study in Business Administration (DBA) with the University of Pretoria’s Gibs Business School (Thesis final stage).

Masvingo Mirror

Hwange residents and safari operators have come out guns blazing accusing Afrochine of double standards after the Chinese company began exploring the Deka Safari area while still conducting its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

According to sources privy to the development, the company has reportedly commenced operations riding on an expired EIA which had been used when they were granted a concession in the Hwange National Park.

The government subsequently reversed the decision following pressure from residents, safari operators, environment activists and conservationists.

“The company has since begun exploration of coal in the Deka Safari area with major equipment having moved on site. The company is riding on the EIA which they did at the time they got to the previous concession which of course expired and meant that the company was supposed to conduct a new one targeting the latest place as the impacts may differ from area to area. Afrochine did not do that but instead went on to conduct exploration and the same time doing an EIA. I would say they are probably in a hurry to start mining given that they recently fired up their coking plant in Lukosi which in turn is supposed to feed the smelters in Selous,” said the source.

Greater Whange Residents Trust coordinator, Fidelis Chima said they were shocked to learn that the company was already on the ground conducting exploration works.

“Greater Whange Residents Trust is surprised that Afrochine has started exploration work before the EIA process has been completed. They sent questionnaires for the mining project and before being issued with the EIA certificate they are already on the site,” said Chima.

Association for Tourism Hwange (ATH) Chairperson, Elisabeth Pasalk said any mining activities would disturb the ecosystem.

“We do hereby object to the establishment of any form of mining activities within the proposed area or in any area close to, within the buffer zone of or connected to Zimbabwe National Parks and safari areas. The area proposed represents crucial wildlife habitat. Mining activities within the area will disturb and displace wildlife, modify animal behaviour and pose a threat to the Zimbabwean citizens living in Hwange town and in the communal lands nearby since the wildlife in the area will have no choice but to escape to new spaces.”

“Mining activities generate vibrational energy that propagates many kilometres along the surface while also penetrating at depths of several kilometres. If you think of the surface of the earth as a trampoline, high-energy ripples are propagating outward from the source along the surface. The vibrations caused by drilling and the noise generated by trucks, provoke the elephants and other wildlife in the area to fear danger and escape to areas where will come into contact with humans and cause the loss of life,” she said.

In a letter of objection seen by CITE to SustiGlobal Consulting and copied President Mnangagwa and Mines minister, Winstone Chitando, Pasalk who operates a safari queried why the government was insisting on coal extraction when the district was one of the best solar radiation zones with the potential to be harnessed into clean energy.

“The over utilization of fossil fuels also contributes to global warming. There is no need to mine coal when there are cleaner renewable sources of energy. Zimbabwe should lead renewable energy projects, which would put us in good stead in terms of reputation as a destination that cares about conservation of the environment, as opposed to relying on open cast coal mining.

“The Hwange/Victoria Falls area is classed as one of the world’s best solar irradiation areas in the world with potential for harnessing solar power in an innovative, environmentally conscious manner. Why then is the government of Zimbabwe continuing to engage in coal mining activities? From a business and economic perspective, the issuance of Special Grant No.8477 indicates a blatant disregard of the investment that safari operators and activity providers have made in the region and tells us that our efforts are in vain and that the livelihoods of those whose careers rely on tourism are of no significance.”

It is understood that on Monday officials from the President’s Office and Cabinet (OPC), Zimparks, government departments and security sector visited concessions given to Afrochine and Zimbabwe Zhongxin Coking Company (ZZCC) to ascertain the obtaining situation.

Meanwhile, residents have petitioned Afrochine consultant, SustiGlobal Consultancy seeking to stop it from conducting mining activities in the area.

Efforts to get a comment from the chief managing consultant, Oliver Mutasa were futile as he was unreachable.

Source: Centre for Innovation and Technology

ZIMBABWE’S biggest car battery maker, Chloride Zimbabwe, says plans to draft lithium battery production technology into its operations have kicked off to prepare the firm for a future without petroleum-powered cars.

General manager Kudzai Pasipanodya told businessdigest this week that for now, Chloride, a unit of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed ART Corporation, was planning for the long-term when lithium-battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs) swamp the domestic market.

There has been a huge global push to eliminate air-polluting, fossil-fuel-powered motor vehicles, the biggest consumers of Chroride’s batteries.

Pasipanodya spoke as traditional car battery makers continued to be confronted by market changes demanding strategic planning.

To underline the gravity of challenges that confront traditional car battery producers, lithium battery car maker Northvolt last week raised US$2,75 billion in fresh equity to expand a factory under construction in Sweden to match surging  demand  for EVs.

“Work on exploring how best we can migrate to lithium technology has started,” Pasipanodya said, speaking exclusively to businessdigest. “This is a long-term project which we think by the time there is general use of the electric vehicles in our market, it would be economical to produce the lithium battery locally.

“We will start by assembling the battery before going into full-time manufacturing. We do not have the capacity as of now, but certainly we are watching market developments whilst looking at what is required to cease the opportunity when it becomes economical to produce locally.

Analysts have cautioned African producers of lithium, including Zimbabwe, not to wait until EVs increase their presence and then make moves to shift their product lines.

There were already indications that EVs would make inroads into the domestic markets earlier than expected after Agilitee Africa, a South African EVs maker, acquired 90% shareholding in a Zimbabwean dealership in May.

The deal is set to create about 700 jobs when a plant is established in Harare.

But should it enter the lithium market in future, Chloride would leverage on its strategic positioning close to some of Africa’s most promising lithium mines including Prospect Resources’ Arcadia near Harare.

The Australia Stock Exchange-listed miner said last week its pilot plant was over 90% complete, as work on kick starting production at Arcadia progressed.

London-headquartered Premium has also been developing a lithium operation near Bulawayo, while significant finds have been made on dump sites at the mothballed Kamativi Tin Mine near Hwange.

The state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation has indicated that it would scout for partners to develop the asset.

Meanwhile, Pasipanodya said Chloride would be ramping up production at its operation to 600 000 units per annum, from the current 450 000.

“Annual production stands at 450 000 units and we are already upgrading the plant to produce 600 000 units annually. Since we embarked on improving production capacity, the market has responded well. The market share has grown from 55% 10 years ago to the current 80%,” he said.

“We export 40% of our production capacity into regional markets, that is Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to be more specific. The Exide brand is already dominant in the Zambian and Malawian markets and we are currently developing the Mozambican market. Emphasis has been on manufacturing a quality product that competes with any global brand. We have invested in communicating the benefits of using our product to the market.

“Chloride Zimbabwe introduced solar batteries in 2014 and the product has been doing well in the targeted market segment. However, there is a market segment which prefers Gel batteries. During the first month of lockdown, we lost 90% of local sales volume, but we recovered after we were declared an essential service. The sales volume recovered to around 80 % of normal sales.”

Zimbabwe Independent 

WORKERS at Golden Valley Mine in Kadoma Wednesday staged a protest accusing its management of deploying security to use “discriminatory” full body scan on junior workers as they fear it will cause health challenges.

The Australian-owned mine is involved in gold mining.

He added workers were forced this week forced to protest as the mine’s management was unwilling to remove the machine, installed to stop gold leakages from employees working underground.

“It’s true, the workers protested against the discriminatory use of a full body scan on lower-level employees at Golden Valley Mine. This protest could have been avoided if relevant stakeholders had paid attention to our concerns’ raised months ago,” said Chinhema.

“As ZDAMWU, we asked the Zimbabwe Radiation Authority on the safety of the machines, and we did not get a satisfactory answer. We wrote to the government’s chief engineer about the issue last March, but we have not received any response. We went to ZELA (Zimbabwe Environmental Legal Association), and again, there was no response.”

The trade unionist added; “We wrote to NSSA (National Social Security Authority), and there was no response. Workers have been left with no choice but to protest.

“This, then means, the management knew the scanning machine will harm people above all what’s surprising is the scanner will only be used on low grade workers while management is exempted.

“This is discrimination. We cannot say only low-grade workers are thieves. It is an insult when the actual thieves are those who are in managerial positions. We say our safety is out right! We can’t risk our lives at all.”

Last March, (ZDAMWU) wrote a letter to the government’s mining chief engineer arguing the scanning machine would cause health challenges to the workers as this had not been proved otherwise.

“Reports from our members are that the authorities installed a full body scan machine for workers in grade 1-10 when entering and leaving the underground shaft,” Chinhema wrote then to government’s mining chief engineer.

“We are worried that safety concerns have not been fully addressed and if not attended to it can degenerate into serious industrial disharmony. We believe the management has not fully explained to the satisfaction of workers the health implications associated with the use of such machine.

“Through instructions from our members, we are engaging you as a responsible authority in terms of mining (Mining and Safety Regulations) Statutory Instrument 109 of 1990 for a full technical report that will clear all the fears workers, and others have.

“In order to avoid any problems, we suggest you instruct the mine to delay the use of the full body scan machine until all fears are cleared.”

The authority has also not responded.

Meanwhile, NewZimbabwe.com tried to seek comment from Golden Valley Mine through its Human Resources Manager Charles Msimanga, who declined to comment.