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Details emerge of the School of Mines student death

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Details emerge of the School of Mines student death

Fresh details have emerged on what really transpired on the accident that killed Delight Ndlovu a female student at the Zimbabwe School of Mines in Bulawayo last week, with the driver of the truck that slew the deceased reportedly to have been sleeping whilst driving.

By Precious Chikuruwo

The unfortunate accident reportedly happened on Thursday the 15th of October when the victim by the name Delight Ndlovu (21) was hit by a lorry carrying gold slimes, 300m away from the campus at Kilani street, Bulawayo.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Zimbabwe School of Mines Mr Edwin Gwaze, the accident happened around lunchtime when the deceased was going to lunch with her friends a male and two females when they were approached by the truck which hit Delight Ndlovu and died at the spot.

” The accident happened on Thursday around 13:45 pm, the driver was carrying a lorry full of gold slimes, Delight (victim) was going to lunch with her 3 friends 2 girls and a boy.

“They were walking outside the road lane, then the driver encroached to the other side the oncoming road where Delight (victim) was with her friends. The boy on realising that the driver was going to hit then he managed to push the other two girls away from the oncoming truck and when he was about to push Delight it was too late.

“Dee died on the spot, and it happened that a lecturer from School of Mines was passing by when he saw the gruesome incident. He then called to the schools’ admin to come to the scene and the police were called” Gwaze said.

The School of Mines CEO also said that the driver of the truck that killed Ndlovu admitted negligence as he was driving while very sleepy.

“When l asked the driver, he admitted that he was dosing whilst driving. We then informed the parents which was the hardest part of all because they had lost a daughter, future female miner, granddaughter, sister, and friend.“ Said Gwaze

The gruesome accident happened as she was supposed to celebrate her 22nd birthday on a fateful day. The police are yet to deliver the charges against the driver who is said to be working at a mine in Bulawayo.

Meanwhile, a company representative of the truck dismissed reports that their truck was poorly serviced. He contacted Mining Zimbabwe saying the company’s truck was serviced often and well. He however ignored all questions sent to him.

Task Mine families happy with rescue progress

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Task Mine families happy with rescue progress

Families of five miners who are trapped underground say they are happy with current rescue progress at the Chegutu mine.

Speaking to Mining Zimbabwe a family representative at the mine said rescuers suspect they are close due to movement of flies into the ground.

“They are really working. Yesterday they were building a box but now they removing rubbles (Mbara) there is good progress”

“The rescue team came out around 11:30 suspecting that they are very close because of the movement of flies into the ground and the smell. A new team went in around 5 am today. We are hoping to get results today with God’s favour or any time soon” the representative said.

A shaft at Task Mining Syndicate 12km from Chegutu along the Chinhoyi highway collapsed trapping five miners 41 days ago. Five days ago rescuers at the mine have found a helmet, converse red shoes and gloves underground.

Although it is now highly unlikely the “Task Five” will be found alive, hopes of retrieving their remains are now high.

Constantino Dzinoreva (47), Charles Mutume (31), Shingai Gwatidzo (20) and brothers Crynos Nyamukanga (44) Munashe Christian (17) have been trapped underground since the 8th of September 2020. Shingai and Munashe are form four students who were only conducting mining part-time awaiting the re-opening of schools which were shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zimbabwe biggest mining body, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) leadership paid a visit last week to ascertain rescue progress. ZMF has for a long time appealed to the government for help in mechanising small-scale mining operations to reduce mining accidents.

The contribution of small-scale mining to Zimbabwean economy

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The contribution of small-scale mining to Zimbabwean economy

The small-scale and artisanal mining sector has of late become one of the pillars of the economy of Zimbabwe contributing significantly to national exports.

Rudairo Mapuranga

The sector which has become of significance for the country to achieve the President’s vision for Zimbabwe becoming an upper-middle-income earner by 2030 and the mining sector achieving a USD 12 billion industry by 2023 with the gold small scale mining sector contributing up to 12 percent of total exports.

Zimbabwe’s gold deliveries in September plunged by 73% to close at 1.36 tonnes from 2.8 tonnes in the comparative period in the prior year owing to rampant smuggling by small scale miners who blamed payment delays being faced by the miners proving the importance of small-scale miners to the economy.

According to Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Mashonaland Central Chairperson Mr. Masango Mahlahla in an interview with Mining Zimbabwe last year, the country’s chrome industry has the potential to establish a USD Billion-dollar industry with the small-scale sector able to generate over USD300 million in export sales.

“Small scale chrome miners held the potential to generate over USD 340 million in export sales revenue along with Government direct tax earnings of over USD 42 million.

“Over the last three years our continued research into chrome highlights that Zimbabwe Chrome production has the potential to become a Billion USD industry,” Mahlahla said.

World over, the small-scale and artisanal mining sector employ 10 times more people than large-scale mining, providing jobs and income for 20-30 million of the world’s poorest people and supporting the livelihoods of five times that number.

In Zimbabwe through the country’s biggest representatives of small-scale and artisanal miners Zimbabwe Miners Federation, around 50 thousand small-scale miners are registered by the body with each employing at least ten workers. And a lot more not registered by ZMF are involved in artisanal mining or illegal mining.

Researchers have estimated that the small-scale and artisanal mining sector in Zimbabwe benefits over 1,5 million people excluding equipment and service providers, this, therefore, shows that the ASM is of paramount importance to the economy of Zimbabwe.

The national Geological Survey estimates that local gold mining started in the country in the seventh century and that of more than 4000 present-day gold deposits, almost all are “located on ancient workings done through small scale mining and exploration.

The growth and continued support of the small-scale mining sector by the government through engaging with different small-scale mining stakeholders have led the miners to account to more than half of the country’s gold deliveries as well as a substantial amount in chrome deliveries and other special minerals.

The Government is putting more emphasis on small-scale mining ventures in its quest to boost mineral production across the country and revive the economy. However, the government seems to be scoring an own goal by rushing to arrest illegal miners whom a large number are unwilling participants but victims of a snail’s pace of Mining Title application processing and rampant corruption by Mines Officials.

The Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando has emphasized that his ministry was relying on small scale mining gold sector for the industry to achieve 100 tonnes of gold annually by 2023 due to the fact that Zimbabwe’s geology entails that there are some mineral deposits that are not economically viable for mining by big conglomerates.

Student dies in a gruesome accident at School of Mines

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Student dies in a gruesome accident at School of Mines

A 22-year-old female first-year student at the Zimbabwe School of Mines (ZSM) yesterday died after she was hit by a lorry carrying gold slimes.

By Precious Chikuruwo

The unfortunate accident reportedly happened yesterday morning when the student (name supplied) was going for her morning examination. School of Mines officials confirmed the development.

Speaking on condition of anonymity a fellow student who witnessed the accident has everyone shattered.

“This accident has shattered everyone who knew her and those who were going to work with her in the future as she was pursuing to be a female miner”.

The gruesome incident happened as she was supposed to celebrate her 22nd birthday on the same fateful day.

The lorry involved is said to have been hired by Old Nic Mine which is based near Bulawayo. The driver is said to have lost control of the lorry and sources privy to the accident say the lorry has not been serviced for a long time. The victim died on the spot and the driver survived with minor injuries.

More to follow

Fidelity gold buying prices Friday 16 October 2020

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Fidelity gold buying prices Friday 16 October 2020

Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) official gold buying prices Friday 16 October 2020

SG 90% and above   $54,43/g

SG above 85% but below 90%   $53,52/g

SG above 80% but below 85%    $52,31/g

SG above 75%  but below 80%.   $ 51,70/g

SAMPLE below 10g but above 5g $52,91/g

FIRE ASSAY CASH   $54,74/g

Exchange rate        81,3458

 

Cash available. Fidelity Printers and Refiners prices will be changing daily in relation to world market prices.

Contact FPR

No. 1 George Drive, Msasa, Harare, Email: [email protected], Telephone: +263 242-486670, +263 242-486694, +263 242-487131, +263 242-447810-5

Crackdown on smuggling revives Tanzania gold industry

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Crackdown on smuggling revives Tanzania gold industry

Tanzania’s gold-mining industry is showing signs of a renaissance following a crackdown on smuggling and the settlement of a long-running dispute with Barrick Gold Corp.

Gold has overtaken tourism as the East African nation’s biggest foreign-exchange earner, while Barrick’s joint venture with the Tanzanian government paid its first cash dividend of $250 million earlier this week.

That turnaround comes after a public battle between the government and Barrick’s Acacia Mining unit culminated in an export ban that crippled its operations. Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s aggressive stance has also made foreign investors wary of a country that’s largely failed to deliver on its potential for large, low-cost mines.

EARNINGS FROM GOLD EXPORTS SURGED 43% IN THE YEAR THROUGH AUGUST AS BULLION RALLIED

Earnings from gold exports surged 43% in the year through August as bullion rallied, Barrick resumed shipments and trading centers established by the government deterred smuggling. Now Tanzania wants to double the contribution of mining to 10% of the economy over the next five years, Mining Minister Doto Biteko said in an interview.

That rebound follows Barrick’s agreement 12 months ago to pay $300 million and hand over 16% of Twiga Minerals Corp., its renamed local business, to settle the dispute with the government. The outlook for the industry will partly depend on Twiga’s success, although regulatory challenges will continue to make the country a difficult jurisdiction, according to Ed Hobey-Hamsher, a senior analyst at Bath, England-based Verisk Maplecroft.

Ownership model

“Investors cannot guarantee that the regulations are enforced in a timely and uniform manner, and that they will receive the exemptions and deferments to which they are entitled by law,” he said. “The issuance of mining permits has resumed but progress will remain slow.”

Barrick Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow has said the Tanzanian operations could eventually rank as a so-called tier-1 asset, producing more than 500,000 ounces a year. At the same time, Tanzania plans to use Barrick as a model to structure other ownership deals with miners, including with AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.

AngloGold’s Geita mine is one of the company’s highest-producing and lowest-cost mines. The government this year granted AngloGold a permit to convert its open-pit mine to an underground operation.

“This is a significant step forward and will unlock an estimated one-third of the underground mineral resource and continue to build on Geita’s longer term plan and bolster ore reserve growth,” spokesman Chris Nthite earlier this week.

Bloomberg News

Endeavour restarts Boungou mine in Burkina Faso

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Endeavour restarts Boungou mine in Burkina Faso

Canada’s Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV), West Africa’s top gold producer, has resumed operations at its Boungou mine in Burkina Faso, about a year after previous owner Semafo decided to shut it following an attack that killed 39 civilians.

The Toronto-listed miner said the reopening of the mine follows infrastructure improvements and a new security plan developed in “close partnership” with Burkina’s government.

ENDEAVOUR, WHICH ACQUIRED BOUNGOU’S PREVIOUS OWNER IN JULY, HAS CONFIRMED POTENTIAL SYNERGIES OF $35 MILLION TO $40 MILLION DURING THE INTEGRATION PROCESS

Endeavour, which acquired Semafo in July, has confirmed potential synergies of $35 million to $40 million during the integration process. About 60% of the synergies would be progressively unlocked by the end of 2020 and the remaining in 2021, the miner said.

“The newly acquired assets are now well embedded into our West African operating model,” Endeavour president and chief executive, Sebastien de Montessus, said in the statement.

“In addition to the significant procurement, supply chain, and G&A savings, we are also seeing the benefits of softer synergies that arise from being the largest gold producer in Burkina Faso.”

The company noted the Boungou plant has been processing stockpiles since early 2020. Endeavour said it expects the mine to achieve the top half of its 2020 production guidance range of 130,000 ounces to 150,000 ounces of gold, at an all-in sustaining cost of $680 to $725 per ounce.

Dual listing

Endeavour Mining said in August it was considering a dual listing either in London or New York in the wake of its merger with Semafo.

The company’s management team is already based in London, so favouring the listing in the UK wouldn’t come as a surprise.

With a market cap of C$5.7 billion (about $4.3bn), Endeavour would be among the most valuable precious metals companies currently listed on the LSE.  These include Russian duo Polyus (LON: PLZL) and Polymetal International (LON: POLY), Mexico-focused Fresnillo (LON: FRES) and Canada’s Yamana Gold (LON: AUY), all of whom have market values of more than $4.5bn_Mining.com

ZMF calls for miners input on Government consultative meeting

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ZMF calls for miners input on Government consultative meeting

The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) is requesting for input from small scale and artisanal miners on any issues and concerns that need redress by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and other line ministries that affects the mining industry.

The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development will be holding a multi-stakeholder consultative meeting on the overall performance of the Mining Sector.

ZMF  is one of the key stakeholders that have been slotted to make a presentation it is therefore calling miners for an urgent response to this request.

[pdf id=8790]

 

Mozambique: Government to set up warehouses, mobile brigades to certify diamonds, precious metals and gems

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Mozambique: Government to set up warehouses, mobile brigades to certify diamonds, precious metals and gems

Mozambique’s government is next year to set up three warehouses for the certification of diamonds, precious metals and gems produced in the country, with the aim of ensuring that they can circulate legally in the international market, it announced on Monday.

According to the executive secretary of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy’s management unit for the Kimberley Certification Process, the three warehouses are part of reforms that the Mozambican executive must institute to join the process.

The system in question was created to ensure that only items that have been legally extracted are sold, preventing the sale of so-called “blood diamonds” and other precious gems that are mined in war zones and whose proceeds thus help fuel conflicts.

“We will have warehouses in Maputo, Manica and Nampula to … control all production of diamonds, precious stones and gems, to be verified, sealed, certified and exported,” the official in question, Castro Elias, told journalists.

He said that the warehouses will function as “a single window,” because all the services necessary for certification will be there, notably customs and mineral resources inspection services, he said. Mobile brigades are also to be set up for producers who work far from the warehouses, also to verify the origin of and certify diamonds, precious metals and gems.

This system will also prevent Mozambique from being used as a corridor for illicitly mined diamonds in other countries, he added.

According to Elias, a team of international experts from the Kimberley Certification Process would visit Mozambique next year to verify whether the conditions are in place for Mozambique’s acceptance into the mechanism. The mission had been scheduled for next month, but was delayed due to constraints caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Acceptance into the Kimberley process is urgent, Elias said, noting that many investors have frozen their activities in the country due to the impossibility of marketing diamonds mined there because Mozambique is not yet part of that mechanism.

“We currently have 47 prospecting and research licenses and 78 applications that are running their legal procedures to obtain prospecting and research licenses,” he said. “We have already had some companies in the field doing the research, but they had to stop because they couldn’t export their samples for analysis.”

The Kimberley process only requires the certification of diamonds, but Mozambique wants to go further by also applying for international certification of gems in that mechanism, in order to bolster the market for local production.

Source: Lusa

Prospect raises $6mln for pilot lithium plant

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Prospect raises $6mln for pilot lithium plant

PROSPECT Resources, which is developing the Arcadia lithium project in Zimbabwe, has raised $6 million for developing a pilot plant to produce low iron spodumene and high purity petalite samples.

The Zimbabwe-focused resource commodity group owns the Arcadia Lithium project, near Harare. In August, it announced that assaying results have confirmed the potential to become the world’s only supplier of premium glass and ceramics market.

Prospect said the funding for the intended pilot project at Arcadia was raised through a private placement.

“The company is pleased to announce it has received subscriptions for 46 153 847 new ordinary shares at $0,13 per share to raise $6 million before costs (placement).

“The shares will be issued on Tuesday, 20 October 2020,” it said. Viriathus Capital acted as sole lead manager and worked with Fresh Equities who assisted with cornerstone support of $5,5 million.

“Funds raised from the placement will be used towards production of low iron spodumene and high purity petalite samples for downstream off-takers and customers through the design, supply and operation of a flotation pilot plant, project finance activities and working capital,” it said.

Prospect managing director, Mr Sam Hosack, was quoted saying that this transformation growth capital will be deployed prudently on advancing the Arcadia lithium project.

“The strong demand from a number of institutional investors is in support of Prospect’s plan to get into production,” he said.

“Prospect is pleased with this successful placement by Viriathus, enabling the business to build on its momentum as we complete the qualification process with glass and ceramics customers, continuing to advance our project economics as we target near term production.”

Early last year, the Zimbabwe Special Economic Zones Authority (Zimseza) announced that the Arcadia lithium project was set to attract US$165 million in foreign direct investment with potential to generate an estimated US$3 billion income in the first 12 years of operation. It is anticipated that the Arcadia lithium project will create up to 10 000 jobs along the value chain.

 

The Chronicle

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