Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

THE National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) is investigating Chinese mining company, Fools Investment Mine in Hope Fountain and other mines owned by the Asian nationals for alleged ill-treatment of their Zimbabwean employees.

This is after local civil society groups petitioned the independent commissions to probe the abuses.

Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) and 13 other civic organisations petitioned the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission demanding an immediate probe on the entire mining sector especially at mines owned by the Chinese where violence against workers is reportedly rife.

The petition came after a Chinese miner, Zhong Yi Zhang at the Fools Investment mine allegedly assaulted two employees Costan Mhasa and Tatenda Mangena after they demanded their dues backdated to July last year.

Yi Zhang was arrested for the crime and his case is pending in the courts.

MIHR said NPRC has since taken the issue up and began investigations.

“Meanwhile MIHR is still receiving more incidences of alleged abuse of local mine workers by the Chinese miners,” MIHR said.

NPRC Commissioner Charles Masunungure confirmed that they received the petition from MIHR and 13 other CSOs to probe the abuse at the said mine and were yet to come up with the findings on the issue.

“I can confirm that we received the petition and we have since deployed a team to get to the bottom of the issue on the ground.

“At the moment, we are yet to know the findings. Our approach as a commission that receives complaints is, we must investigate and make recommendations on the issues we would have found,” Masunungure said.

He said the commission is not just focusing on the Hope Fountain issue but has widened its focus to establish what is going on at other mines and after the completion of the investigations, they were going to make recommendations on the findings and proffer solutions on the issues of concern.

In their petition, the CSOs said the Chinese miners’ behaviour was unacceptable and must be stopped.

The groups include, Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights, Women’s Institute for Leadership Development, Matobo Youth Development Initiative, Rural Communities Empowerment Trust, Community Podium, Christian Legal Society Zimbabwe, Community Youth Development Trust, South Western Region Gender Network, Ibhetshu likaZulu, Greater Whange Residents Trust, Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association, Lupane Youth for Development and Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Association

The CSOs said the Hoper Fountain incident was not the first one, as in June 2020, a Gweru mine worker was shot five times by Chinese miner Zhang Xuen who also injured another.

“These are not the only incidences of Chinese mining companies being accused of torturing and abusing Zimbabwean mine workers.

“Incidences like these have also been reported in Insiza, Gwanda, Bubi, Hwange, Gweru, Matobo, Masvingo, Mutare and other Districts of the country where mining is taking place,” reads the petition.

“We have gathered in many areas of the country where the Chinese mining companies are operating that these acts of wanton human rights abuse are rampant and the locals no longer report them because of the impunity they have experienced.”

The CSOs pleaded with the commission to investigate the alleged abuses.

They said their petition was backed by the fact that Section 44 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe mandated that “the State and every person, including juristic persons, and every institution and agency of the government at every level must respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights and freedoms” set out in the Constitution.

“Realizing that our citizens have failed to enjoy ‘administrative conduct that is lawful, prompt, efficient, reasonable, proportionate, impartial and both substantively and procedurally fair’ (Section 68 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe), we thus call for the Independent Commissions to step in and protect our citizens,” further reads the petition.

New Zimbabwe

Platinum giant, Zimplats, has spent US$1,2 million in exploration activities during the quarter ended September 30, 2020 while ore mined increased by two percent.

The ore mined was also four percent up year-on-year underpinned by improved fleet productivity and additional tonnage from the company’s Mupani Mine, presently under development.

In a trading update for the third quarter under review, Zimplats said: “A total of US$1,2 million was spent on exploration projects during the quarter and a further US$0,1 million was committed.

“Ore mined increased by two percent from the previous quarter and was four percent higher than in the quarter ended 30 September 2019 because of improved fleet productivity and additional tonnage from Mupani Mine, which is still under development.”

Total operating cash costs increased by three percent from the previous quarter as a result of higher volumes mined and an increase in minerals marketing.

A total of US$5,6 million was transferred from operating costs to closing stocks during the quarter, compared with $1,2 million in the previous quarter, owing to the increase in run-of-mine (RoM) ore and concentrate stocks.

Zimplats said the accumulation of run-of-mine ore stocks will continue in preparation for the commissioning of increased concentrator capacity, which is planned for the second half of 2022.

Operating cash costs per ounce increased by 12 percent from the previous quarter due to a combination of lower matte volumes and higher operating costs.

The Chronicle

EXPERTS have urged Government and local companies to expedite the manufacturing of bitumen to reduce the import bill after it emerged that over US$4,2 million has been used annually to import the product.

According to the World’s Top Exports, in 2019 Zimbabwean importers spent over US$4,2 million to import natural bitumen, asphalt and shale, up by 12,9 percent from the previous year. Also, Zimbabwean purchases of asphalt or petroleum bitumen mixes (up 140 percent), peat (up 51,6 percent) and petroleum oil residues (up 45,2 percent) grew at the fastest pace from 2018 to 2019.

With the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development’s geological survey stating that Zimbabwe has vast high-grade coal deposits occurring as fossilised carbon and about 12 billion tonnes of quality coal, industry experts have suggested that the country should utilise its coal deposits to manufacture bitumen.

In an interview, banker and founder of Bouyancy Capital Private Limited, Mr Innocent Chigwendere said the country was realising less foreign currency as most of the bitumen was imported instead of being locally manufactured from the vast coal deposits.

“We have vast coal deposits in the country and most of them have not been fully deployed. It’s that area as a nation that we should look at, and develop that resource. Instead of using billions of dollars importing bituminous materials for infrastructure development such as road construction, roofing, waterproofing, and other applications let us utilise our coal deposits and manufacture bitumen locally,” said Mr Chigwendere.

He added that roads in the country were in a bad state and the progress of repairing them was taking longer than expected as there were less resources and most of the bitumen was being sourced from other countries.

Mr Chigwendere also noted that there was need for import substitution to save foreign currency in the country and focus on projects aimed at locally manufacturing bitumen, thereby creating employment and producing more for export.

“There has been progress in terms of roads rehabilitation in the country but we are doing 200km per year based on what was done last year, it means we still have more years to go before we complete thorough rehabilitation in the whole country. If we look at this seriously as a country there is still time for us to cut the costs and utilise the resources that we have, at the same time also acquire environmentally-friendly equipment for infrastructure development.”

Buy Zimbabwe chairman, Mr Munyaradzi Hwengwere said as the country moves towards the attainment of Vision 2030, manufacturing bitumen locally was key.

“As part of the agenda of turning Zimbabwe into a middle economy by 2030, as a country the agenda is to be transformative, to move from a stage where we are dependent on import to realising that every cent we take out of the country we are putting it into someone else’s pocket.

“Bitumen is a key ingredient in the construction of the roads and if it can be manufactured locally, let us start moving towards that’s direction,” said Mr Hwengwere.

About 29 coal localities are known in Zimbabwe with the major producers being Hwange Colliery and Makomo resources.

GOVERNMENT’s robust drive on import substitution policy will result in further capacitation of artisanal and small-scale miners who are finding it hard to foot the bill of importing equipment from other countries, a leading mining expert has said.

There has been a renewed interest among business leaders in the equipment manufacture and supply chain who admit that import substitution was key in ensuring good returns, in particular for the artisanal and small-scale miners.

Import substitution is widely mentioned in the National Development Strategy (NDS-1), where emphasis is placed on every economic activity to adopt a policy that replaces foreign imports with local production. Players in the mining sector have for long relied on equipment from South Africa and China, a situation that suppressed local industrial growth.

Small-scale miners under the Zimbabwe Mining Federation (ZMF) constitute the biggest market for the manufacture and supply chain. ZMF said an estimated 70 percent of manufactured tools locally was bought by artisanal and small-scale miners.

The growing market for mining spares and other consumables has of late, opened up job opportunities that are sustained through the import substitution policy as well. This was what inspired a Bulawayo-based mining entrepreneur to invest in the country’s top foreign currency earner.

Mineazy Mining Solutions general manager Mr Khumbula Dube, said a combination of research, development and import substitution was the ingredient to revive the country’s economy through mining.

“We have to take seriously the issue of import substitution in the mining industry. That also calls for investment in research and development.

“Mining is positioned to change the fortunes of the country. We foresee a bright future in Zimbabwe’s mining industry but that needs to be supported by research especially on how local companies can find innovative ways to manufacture spares and reduce dependency on foreign machines.”

ZMF spokesperson Mr Dosman Mangisi said import substitution was key in serving small-scale miners.

“The Zimbabwe Miners Federation is pleased by what local companies have done to support the industry, we greatly need to grow the whole value chain to revive Zimbabwe’s mining. Mining equipment and consumables are usually expensive. Given that we have a mining background, we know all the problems that miners face, and that includes the pricing challenge,” said Mr Mangisi.

Over 80 percent of small-scale miners in the country are yet to be fully mechanised, according to Mr Mangisi. He said ZMF has it on record that the local market only supplies 10 percent of mining equipment needed by the industry.

The Sunday News

ZIMBABWE has recorded over 463 fatalities in the mining industry in the past three years as a result of not having enough enforcement of mining regulations due to the increase in the number of mining locations, an official has said.

Speaking at the Mining Safety Campaign 2021 launch, organised virtually by Young Miners Foundation (YMF) in partnership with the Midlands State University (MSU) Faculty of Engineering and Geosciences, Chief Government mining engineer, Eng Michael Munodawafa said over 463 fatalities were recorded in the mining industry from 2018 to 2020 due to various reasons.

“We have seen an upsurge in the number of fatalities in the mining industry with 112 recorded in 2018, 182 in 2019 and 169 in 2020. The above fatalities were as a result of not having enough enforcement of mining regulations due to increase in number of mining locations and not enough resources availed to the inspectorate, pure disregard of mining regulations by registered and unregistered (illegal) miners and lack of proper mining knowledge and understanding of mining environment, among others,” said Eng Munodawafa.

He noted that ordinarily, for a fatality to be classified as a mine accident, the deceased or injured should be a mine employee carrying out the assigned duties in a properly registered mining location. Any other incident in an unregistered mine is classified under illegal mining accidents.

Eng Munodawafa also added that fall of ground accounted for at least 60 percent of all accidents in mines and this was due to robbing of support pillars in old or current mines, working in unstable grounds (especially backfilled areas) without any extra support and not leaving natural support pillars to support openings induced by mining.

“Fall of ground also happens in shafts, when shafts collapse because they were sunk in unstable grounds geologically or sunk in backfilled material. Usually when fall of ground occurs either miners are crushed to death or suffocated.”
Eng Munodawafa also highlighted that shafts accidents accounted for about 18 percent of all accidents and this happened a lot in small mines. He said some of the causes were poor maintenance of winding mechanisms which normally resulted in either rope snapping or winding mechanism failure due to poor or no maintenance at all.

He further stated that other accidents which occur in shafts were loose materials falling from the sides of the shafts, with objects falling into shafts if they are not protected, thereby injuring or killing a person in the shaft or those being lowered or raised in the shaft.

As another major cause of accidents in the mining industry, Eng Munodawafa added: “Gassing accounts for about 10 percent of the fatalities in the industry. This usually happens when there is poor or no ventilation at all. Most of our miners usually do not worry about the air in the mine while working whether its flowing or not until they are overcome by gasses.”

He also said that some sources of gasses in mines were from blasting which results in emission of carbon monoxide and also stagnant water could contain hydrogen sulphide. Eng Munodawafa said statistics from 2016 to date showed that fatalities in the country due to gassing among legal mining activities were six, while among illegal mining activities were 18.

He also noted that explosives could also be dangerous if not handled by competent personnel and in most cases, accidents happened due to premature detonation of explosives and poor handling without following laid down safety precautions.

He highlighted that electrical and equipment mishandling were other causes of fatalities. Due to limited space in mining areas, he said most people were being electrocuted by high voltage equipment or run over by equipment if they did not follow laid down safety procedures.

Eng Munodawafa said, there have been cases of accidents due to flooding in mines. Among other causes, he said people were also falling into unprotected mine openings. Eng Munodawafa said in some cases, accidents or disasters were due to wrong methods of mining where miners disregard safety especially at “hotspots” where miners put too many shafts too close to each other resulting in instability of the ground.

The Sunday News