Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

DIVERSIFIED mining group, RioZim, has taken delivery of equipment for the proposed US$17 million Biological Oxidation (BIOX) plant at the firm’s Cam and Motor gold mining operation in Kadoma.

When commissioned, it is hoped that the plant will go a long way in ensuring RioZim beneficiates its precious minerals by processing pure oxide ores to make good grades and high recoveries.

This will in turn generate more foreign currency when exported. In its 2020 annual report released this week, RioZim said progress on the BIOX project had been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as suppliers were affected by the lockdowns and travel restrictions in the first half of 2020.

However, the project’s activities resumed in the second half of the prior year although at a slow space after lockdown measures were eased and the group managed to bring about the project by taking delivery of the bulk of the equipment for the capital expenditure programme.

“Despite the funding and Covid-19 challenges, the company managed to steamroll the project to bring civil works to near completion and managed to take delivery of the bulk of the equipment by year end.

“Installations commenced post year end and are progressing well. As at the reporting date, the company was engaged in discussions with potential lenders to secure the remaining funding requirements to complete the projects and the company is hopeful of reaching financial closure,” said RioZim.

In 2019, the group embarked on various capital raising initiatives to fund the completion of the BIOX plant, which holds the future of Cam and Motor Mine.

Such capital raising initiatives included approaching RioZim’s bankers and other financial institutions and financiers both local and foreign for possible US dollar funding.

“The company remains optimistic of concluding and commissioning the BIOX plant within the ensuing reporting year.

“The completion of the BIOX plant remains a key priority for the company as we pursue value creation for all stakeholders.

“The success of this project will be pivotal for the sustenance of the Cam & Motor Mine,” it said.

RioZim said it will build on its exploration drive from the prior year in order to upgrade and increase confidence levels on all resources across all its mines in light of the declining grades at Renco, One-Step and Dalny mines.

During the year under review, the group’s gold production declined by 27 percent from 1,66 tonnes achieved in the prior year to 1,21 tonnes.

Throughout 2020, the group’s flagship operation Cam & Motor Mine carried out mining activities from the nearby One-Step mine hauling low grade ore to the Cam & Motor plant for processing.

“This resulted in a drastic fall in gold production compared to the prior year when the mine processed higher-grade ore from its Cam pits.

“The gold price maintained a growth trend throughout the year recording a 27 percent growth from the prior year’s average price of US$1 395 per ounce, to an average price of US$1 765/oz in the current year (2020), which counteracted the impact of lower production volumes,” said RioZim.

Revenue generated during the period was Z$3,1 billion in comparison to Z$577,1 million in the prior year. The exponential increase in revenue was a direct result of the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar.

The Chronicle

Delays in the proposed unbundling of Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) has rattled investors who are now reluctant to fund gold projects without proper knowledge of the timelines of the privatisation processes, an executive with the company has warned.

The delays have significantly contributed to the decrease in gold deliveries as investors are not happy with the continuous participation of FPR as a player.

Consequently, the miners are now taking their gold to alternative markets.

“Unbundling is still work in progress and as such it tends to affect investor participation in businesses wherein FPR is a player,” FPR general manager Fradreck Kunaka told Business Times.

Last year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which is the parent company of FPR, announced plans to unbundle the company into two units—gold refining and printing and minting units.

RBZ said it would retain the printing and minting business but dispose of it 60% shareholding in the gold refining unit.

The big mining houses have been offered a 50% stake, while the small-scale miners and FPR gold buying agents were offered 7% and 3% respectively.

The proposal follows the model of Rand Refinery, South Africa’s biggest refinery, which is owned by the five largest gold miners—AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony, Sibanye Gold and DRDGOLD.

But, it appears there is no progress in the proposed unbundling of FPR, a move which has affected investors.  Early this year, RBZ governor, John Mangudya said the Covid-19 pandemic had stalled the process as board members of mining houses could not meet to complete the processes.

Gold deliveries fell 5% to record 1.38 tonnes in April 2021 from 1.46 tonnes recorded in the prior comparative period due to unfavourable mining policies and smuggling.

Kunaka said the authorities should complete the proposed unbundling process to attract investors in the gold sector.

“Without fresh capital injection, gold production may continue to decline or hold at current levels of 1.3 tonnes per month,” Kunaka said.

RBZ was expecting that the gold producers’ compliance levels in the trading of gold will significantly increase as they will be part of the decision-making process in gold trading.

The proposed privatisation of FPR came after some lobbying from some players in the mining business.

Gold miners want Zimbabwe to fully liberalise the marketing of gold so as to allow miners to sell their own production, a suggestion that Mangudya has publicly opposed, saying he feared it would worsen smuggling.

Among the country’s biggest gold producers are RioZim and Caledonia Mining.

FPR started refining gold in 1988, and at its peak producers from abroad sent in their gold for refining at its Msasa refinery.

However, FPR has not used most of its installed capacity to refine 50 tonnes of gold per year.

Mining experts said if the authorities would reduce punitive taxes (royalties), cost of importing cash and timeous payments the gold sector has the capacity to sustain the country’s economy.

The country is believed to be losing over US$1.7bn through gold leakages.

Business Times

Mining is an important sector in the country.

It is the biggest foreign currency earner and is one of the biggest employers. It also contributes a lot to community development as many towns have developed around mines while some companies are building roads, dams and other public infrastructure.

Experts say most of the minerals that the country is endowed with have not been mined yet. There are still thousands upon thousands of tonnes of gold, lithium, chrome and platinum; millions of carats of diamond, rare earths and so on that are still to be exploited.

This means that while mining has helped build this economy, it still has much more potential to contribute.
But one impediment, among a number, frustrating progress is speculative holding of concessions of many minerals by some companies.

The companies have, the Government has often said, sat on the assets for inordinately long periods. Since the companies are holding on to the concessions, they remain dead assets.

It is in that direction that, some two years ago, the Government announced a use-it-or-lose-it policy, which means that any company that continues to hold rights to a concession must begin mining; if they don’t, they lose the rights to other companies that are willing and able to start mining immediately.

It is according to that policy that the Government, as Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Winston Chitando told us this week, has repossessed as many as 80 concessions across the country.

“The use-it-or-lose-it policy has been implemented. We will have formal announcements in due course. But we have repossessed over 80 assets and we will do a formal update on that, and we will continue to do that (repossessing),” he said.

“We have always warned that the time was up for all those mining title holders who were holding onto the concessions for speculative tendencies at the expense of the country.

Under the ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ mantra, those repossessed assets will be reallocated to potential investors who really want them for productive purpose in line with the National Development Strategy 1 agenda.”
We take the repossession, done in terms of the Mines and Minerals Act, as the first necessary step to addressing an unfortunate anomaly hindering the development of the relevant sector and the wider economy at large.

Now we ask that the Government moves speedily to allocate the assets to companies which have capacity to mine, but had been unable to do so because some were hoarding valuable ground for selfish interests.

It is our hope too that the new owners will hit the ground running and not behave like the former owners who were greedy and just sitting on value.

The reallocation will unleash the potential that the mining sector has. The country will be able to generate more foreign currency, more jobs would be created, more community development would be realised and so on.

In 2019, President Mnangagwa launched a mining industry strategic roadmap to build a US$12 billion sector by 2023. Under the road map, coal, chrome, diamond, iron and steel are envisaged to contribute US$1 billion to the economy.

The projected increase represents a 344 percent jump from US$2, 7 billion achieved in 2017. By 2030 the Government expects that the mining industry alone would be generating more than US$20 billion.

These targets would be met and surpassed if the assets that have been dead for many years, find new investors who will immediately work them for their profit and greater good of the economy.

The  Chronicle

AN ARTISANAL miner from Bulawayo is battling for life at Matobo Rural Hospital after sustaining serious injuries following a machete attack by his former colleagues over an unknown grudge.

The attack occurred last Sunday at around 11AM when the suspected machete-gang pounced at Nkomazana Mine, Matobo district, Matabeleland South province.

They attacked Mr Mthokozisi Tshuma (35) of Pumula South suburb with machetes and axes as they punched and kicked him.

Matabeleland South acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Thabani Mkhwananzi confirmed the attack, saying the suspects are still on the run.

Asst Insp Mkwananzi appealed to anyone with information on the suspects to report to the nearest police station.

He said Mr Tshuma was working under Mabhandadzi gold panning syndicate led by one Vusa Ncube before he left and joined Israel gold panning group in the same area.

Asst Insp Mkhwananzi also said Mr Tshuma’s move irked Ncube who connived with other mining group leaders forming a gang of more than 20 people to go and attack him at his workplace.

Upon arrival, the gang, armed with machetes and axes, confronted Mr Tshuma and asked him why he had left the syndicate and an altercation ensued.

He said one of the group members, Dumoluhle Sibanda, struck Mr Tshuma once on the head and cheek and he fell down as he bled profusely and crying in agony. The other panners joined the attack using axes.

Asst Insp Mkhwananzi said the gang struck Mr Tshuma all over his body and he sustained deep cuts on the head, left cheek and both legs.

“I can confirm that I received a report to that at Nkomazana mine in Matobo district at around 11AM more than 20 artisanal miners, led by group syndicates, stormed at the mining site armed with machetes and axes before they attacked Mr Tshuma all over his body leaving him lifeless,” said Asst Insp Mkhwananzi.

Mr Tshuma is admitted to Matobo Rural Hospital and is in critical condition.

“We urge members of the public to iron out disputes amicably and avoid the use of illegal weapons as the arm of the law will catch up with them,” said Asst Insp Mkhwananzi.

The Chronicle

A GWANDA miner has appeared in court for beating a workmate to death following a dispute over money while gambling.
The accused person’s two accomplices are still at large.

Marshal Sibanda (26), who works at Vulture Mine in Colleen Bawn area, was not asked to plead when he appeared before Gwanda magistrate, Miss Caroline Matanga facing a murder charge. He was remanded in custody to June 9.

Prosecuting, Miss Faith Mutukwa said Sibanda and his two accomplices assaulted Precious Siziba (23) from Filabusi on May 9 at around 4PM and he died the following day at around 6AM while admitted to Gwanda Provincial Hospital.

“On May 9 at around 4PM the now deceased and the accused were gambling together with two others who have been identified as Johnson Moyo and Shepherd Moyo. The accused person and his accomplices had a misunderstanding with the now deceased over payment of the money,” she said.

“The trio started assaulting Siziba who then fled from the scene for a distance of about 10 metres. One of them threw a brick at Siziba and it hit him on the head and he fell to the ground.

“They caught up with Siziba and sprayed pepper spray in his eyes and hit him on the head using unknown weapons until he lost consciousness.”

Miss Mutukwa said the accused person and his accomplices fled from the scene and left Siziba lying unconscious on the ground. She said Siziba was assisted by a passerby who rushed him to Gwanda Provincial Hospital where he was admitted but died the following morning.
The matter was reported to the police who conducted investigations leading to the arrest of the accused person. His accomplices are still at large.

The Chronicle

GOLD panners are costing the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) millions of dollars annually through vandalism of railway infrastructure by mining along railway lines across the country.

Illegal gold mining has contributed to train accidents that have led to the death of three people in the last 18 months.

The NRZ said Esigodini and Beitbridge in Matabeleland South, Shurugwi, Kwekwe in the Midlands and Bindura in Mashonaland Central are some of the areas that have been hard hit by the gold panning activities.

Government recently took a position to deploy security agents in Beitbridge to ward off gold panners operating along the railway line.
NRZ is now running a campaign aimed at identifying and arresting those damaging the railway infrastructure across the country.

In an interview yesterday, NRZ public relations manager Mr Nyasha Maravanyika said while Government deployed security agents to Beitbridge the problem is widespread in most areas with gold.

“It’s very massive especially in most parts of the country. The Minister (of Transport and Infrastructure Development Felix Mhona) mentioned Beitbridge but this is happening in many places. Other areas are Bindura, Kwekwe in the Great Dyke and Shurugwi, Esigodini and Beitbridge. These are the main areas that are hit by the illegal gold miners. Most of the time they conduct mining operations under the railway line,” said Mr Maravanyika.

“You will find that the railway line rests on big holes and this affects the railway line as there will be no balance and at the end of day, we lose millions in terms of money and lives are lost as well. The NRZ has taken a proactive role in terms of alerting the Government about the illegal gold panning.

Let’s also take note that in terms of the Railways Act, no human activities should be done at least 45 metres from either side of the railway line. These illegal gold panners are right along the railway line, sometimes they even take away some of our rail infrastructure.”

He said the parastatal has lost about $3,6 million through gold panning related vandalism of infrastructure and theft of copper cables in the past four years.

Mr Maravanyika said the vandalism of infrastructure has also led to death and called on courts to impose stiffer penalties on NRZ infrastructure vandals.

“We have also been let down by the judiciary giving perpetrators between three to six months sentences. As NRZ we are lobbying for deterrent sentences. The railway line is part of important national infrastructure and needs to be protected. By imposing heavy custodial sentences, we will protect not just the economy but lives. In the past 18 months we have lost three people through accidents which could have been avoided,” said Mr Maravanyika.

Damage caused by gold panners on railway infrastructure in Mazowe

Last week, Government was informed that gold panners operating at Matopos Research Institute Farm are threatening international research work aimed at improving agriculture in Southern Africa and beyond, through land degradation that has affected studies on crops and caused the death of pedigree breeding livestock.

The panners are also affecting pastures with farmers complaining that they are losing livestock as a result of haphazard gold panning activities in farms and communal areas.

Minister of State in the Office of the President and Cabinet in charge of monitoring and implementation of special agriculture-related programmes, David Marapira last week directed Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution to work closely with the security agents and decisively deal with the illegal gold panners as their operations were threatening economic subsectors.

The Chronicle

Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) Deputy Director and Kimberley Process Civil Society Coordinator Mr. Shamiso Mtisi referring to South Africa’s draft artisanal and small-scale Mining Policy said formalization might be the solution in reducing challenges of illegal mining, trade, and export of gold in Zimbabwe.

Sophia Takuva

The ZELA Deputy Director said the introduction of digital technology through the government’s promised cadastre system in mining claims and concessions was also of importance in curbing conflicts in the mining industry in Zimbabwe.

“On the challenges of illegal mining, trade, and export of gold, formalization of Artisanal mining might be the solution. Introduction of BlockChain technology in ASM and Large-Scale sector might also help to curb conflicts and criminality,” Mtisi said.

Mtisi said Zimbabwe should take a leaf from South Africa’s draft policy on artisanal and small-scale mining which thrives to regulate and formalise the operations of artisanal mining through recommending permits for artisanal miners, defines artisanal mining as separate from small scale mining, and designate areas for artisans.

The permits would allow the government to regulate artisanal miners’ operations as well as allowing the government to tax them.

“South Africa just circulated a draft Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Policy which recommends a permit, reserving permits to citizens, defines artisanal mining as separate from small scale mining, designate areas for artisans, payment of taxes and reporting,” he said.

The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) an umbrella body that represents small-scale and artisanal miners in Zimbabwe has been calling on the government to expedite the formalization and regularisation of the small-scale miners’ operations to curb smuggling and increase revenue to the fiscus.

ZMF urges Small scale and artisanal miners to embrace and prioritize the development and growth of the communities they are operating in as a way of giving back to the community.