Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

The Zimbabwe government is investigating reports that the newly released Zimbabwe dollar notes have flooded the black market where they are being sold at a premium, the  Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services said on  Thursday.

The new notes started circulating this week on Tuesday.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the new notes after the government mid-this year returned the local currency as part of wider reforms, aimed at stabilizing the economy.

The currency reforms saw the government dumping use of multiple foreign  currencies for local transactions, a decade after it adopted them.

In $2 and $5 denominations as well as $2 bond coins, the new currency came as a huge relief to Zimbabweans who had for years endured cash shortages and were now only managing to access it on the parallel market, for a premium.

Images of crispy new notes have however been circulating on social media, raising fears that they had been offloaded onto the black market straight from the central bank.

In a tweet, the Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting  Services said investigations were underway to track the source of the new notes being traded on the black market.

“Government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is investigating allegations of abuse of newly released banknotes. Cash was collected by banks using their CIT vehicles on Monday. All serial numbers were recorded in the register. The offending banks will be named and severe action taken,” it said.

The central bank has said it injected over $30 million into the market and will continue drip-feeding the new notes for the next six months until total issued cash is about a 10th of total deposits in both foreign and local currency.

Zimbabweans had over the years endured cash shortages as the central bank uncharacteristically kept cash in circulation very low compared to what is done in other economies.

The shortages of cash gave birth to multi-pricing in the economy as well as a thriving bank note selling business as some businesses such as transport operators preferred to transact in cash only. – New Ziana

Chegutu legislator, Hon Dexter Nduna has issued a statement in which he warned Chegutu residents that their area has been invaded by machete-wielding criminals due to the gold rush in the area. The criminals have injured many, Zimbabwe Miners Federation ZMF youth chairperson Timothy Chizuzu has confirmed.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

According to the statement allegedly released by the Chegutu MP, the gold rush has occurred in the industrial area of the town which makes it dangerous for the locals to work or walk in the area because they might be pounded by these criminals in the process.

Nduna also allegedly said that the criminals are even attacking people during the day and doctors have been deployed in the area to tend to the wounded.

” There’s a gold rush in the constituency at two areas justice Chitakunye and David Whitehead textiles, I urge you all to be alert and not visit these areas. The crime of machetes has increased both in the day and night, the police are on high alert the Airforce doctors and nurses are attending to the injured at the general hospital since yesterday” allegedly said Hon Nduna.

Hon Dexter Nduna also encouraged the residents to work with the police in order to flush out the criminals from society.

“Please cooperate with the Police to weed out the machete criminals at these sites,” said Nduna.

The Chegutu west legislator also said that he has contacted Zimbabwe Power utility, ZESA holdings to restore power in the area for the injured to be nursed to full recovery.

Nduna said that the criminals are targeting gold buyers, miners, and processors.

“I have spoken to ZESA they will restore power to the hospital as a priority as the armed robbers are now targeting gold processors and buyers in and around Chegutu. People should stay out of trouble and secure themselves and premises during this trying time. The situation will normalize soon” said Nduna.

African countries have begun the process of assessing whether its vast mineral resources are benefiting its citizens or outsiders. The assessment follows a realisation that despite the huge amount of mineral resources that is in abundance across the continent, African countries remain among the poorest in the world.

In fact, the majority of countries in Africa continue to export minerals such as gold, diamond, and platinum in their raw or unprocessed form, and later import them back as finished goods.

To address some of these challenges, the inaugural Africa Forum on Mining that is meeting from 13 to 16 November in Accra, Ghana is taking stock on how the continent could fully utilise its mineral resources to finance its development agenda.

Speaking at the forum, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh said such an assessment “gives all of us hope that the continent is desirous of finding workable solutions to the paradox of great minerals wealth existing side by side with pervasive poverty.”

He urged African countries to implement the Africa Mining Vision (AMV), adding that the mining sector had the capacity to promote sustainable development in Africa.

Launched in 2009, the AMV is a policy framework that charts a path for generating and realizing various types of linkages arising from the mineral sector through industrial development and technical upgrading.

Speaking at the same occasion, Commissioner for Trade and Industry at the African Union Commission, Ambassador Albert Muchanga said since the adoption of the AMV a decade ago, the importance of minerals, both globally and in Africa, have increased significantly, as a result of the growing demand and fears of supply shortages.

“While resource-rich African economies continue to embrace reforms to optimise the socio-economic and financial benefits from their mineral sector, new challenges compel for more efficient and smart policies,” he said.

Muchanga said it is therefore not a mere coincidence that the inaugural African Forum on Mining is being held exactly 10 years since the adoption of the AMV.

“During the last 10 years, a number of stakeholders have come forward in support and while others criticized the AMV for addressing and not addressing certain important elements.

“The Forum therefore provides us all with an opportunity for frank discussions on all emerging and recurrent policy issues within the sector and decide for ourselves the focus on the future we want for the African mineral sector.”

He said the Forum running under the theme “Africa Mining Vision at 10: looking back, moving forward” will now be an annual event to be held every year around October and November.

The Africa Forum on Mining is being organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) in collaboration with various partners including the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the United nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Development Bank (AfDB)Mo and the Ghana Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

According to a statement from the African Union Commission, the outcomes of the Forum will, amongst others, feed into global and regional discussions, including informing the AMV revision process and AMV implementing partners’ programmes in Africa_Spiked

Zimbabwean mining firms want to retain all of their export earnings in foreign currencies, saying they are disadvantaged by having a proportion paid to them in Zimbabwe dollars.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is pinning its hopes on the mining sector, which generates Zimbabwe’s biggest export earnings, to drive the recovery of an economy grappling with power cuts and acute shortages of U.S. dollars and fuel.

Zimbabwe is home to the second largest known platinum reserves and large lithium, gold and diamond deposits, but many investors fret over whether they can take money out.

The Chamber of Mines said shortages of power and foreign exchange remain the two biggest problems facing the sector, which was operating at 70% capacity, down from 75% last year.

Mining companies are only allowed to keep up to 55% of their foreign exchange sales and the central bank pays them in local currency for the balance at the official interbank rate.

A survey by the Chamber of Mines showed that mining companies wanted to retain all their forex earnings and settle all obligations, including taxes and power purchases in dollars.

Isaac Kwesu, chief executive of the Chamber of Mines, said on Thursday that local suppliers had increased prices by up to 30 times this year, which meant the Zimbabwe dollar payments at the official exchange rate were inadequate.

“Our miners are now paid at a deep discount, which makes us uncompetitive when compared with our neighbours,” Kwesu said during a presentation of the survey’s results in Harare.

Mines Minister Winston Chitando said the government was looking at the request but could not say when it would respond. Reuters

MINERAL production in Zimbabwe will decline to around minus 40 % by year end owing to a host of challenges confronting the mining sector, the State of the Mining Industry 2019 survey reports.

The report, released recently and compiled by the Chamber of Mines, established that key minerals were expected to record declines in output growth.

“Mineral output prospects survey findings show that key minerals are expected to record declines for selected key minerals ranging as follows; gold  between -5% to -35% ; platinum 0% to -7%; diamond  -30% to -40%; chrome -10% to -20%; nickel -2% to -10%) and coal -10% to -40% ,” said the document.

However, the annual report observes, in 2020, key minerals like gold are expected to register growth between 5 % to 40 %, ferrochrome 5% to 20 %, diamond 10%, to 20% and coal (5% to 15%.

The majority of respondents constituting 90 % indicated that they signed contracts with the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority for dedicated power and committed to pay a revised foreign currency tariff in advance but were not receiving the energy.

Turning on to government’s vision for achieving the US$ 12 billion industry by 2023 , players in the mining industry raised concern over the need to avail adequate capital for expansion of current production, need to reopen closed mines and development of new mines; need for adequate infrastructure and competitively priced electricity, rail, water, roads and Information Communication Technologies.

“Realisation of the above vision requires adequate and accurate information for the crafting of optimal policies that supports rapid growth and development of the mining sector,” said Chamber of Mines president, Elizabeth Nerwande.

The study also called on the need to attract and retaining critical skills to match the rapid expansion of the mining industry; aligning the fiscal and monetary frameworks to the new growth targets through optimal tax and foreign exchange framework that sustain mining operations.

Said the survey, “Key legislative and policy matters raised by mining executives include the following: energy and infrastructure policy, foreign exchange policy; macroeconomic policy; fiscal policy; Minerals Development Policy, environmental management policy and Mines and Minerals Act.”

Almost all respondents 100 % indicated that the current foreign exchange retention thresholds are inadequate, citing high imports of critical materials for production; emerging demands on mining for payment of electricity bills, royalty, fuel in forex.

Notably, 100 % of respondents indicated that their cost of production had increased by more than 20% in 2019, compared to 2018 arguing that the surrendered portion to the central bank liquidated at the interbank rate at a time local inputs are priced at a factor which is around twice the interbank rate_New Zimbabwe

IMPALA Platinum Holdings Limited is in talks to buy land in Zimbabwe from rival Anglo-American Platinum Limited as the world’s second-biggest producer of the precious metal seeks to boost output from the southern African country, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

The purchase of the claims by the Mimosa mine, which is jointly owned by Impala and Sibanye Gold Limited could be finalised by the end of the year, according to sources who asked not to be identified because the discussions are not public.

Impala and Amplats mine most of their platinum group metals in neighbouring South Africa, which has the world’s biggest reserves of platinum. But Zimbabwe’s deposits, second only to South Africa’s, are shallower and therefore cheaper to mine. Amplats’ Unki mine has two properties adjacent to Mimosa. 

“We are considering various options with regards to the mining of these claims,” Colin Chibafa, Unki’s chief financial officer, said in a written response to questions. 

“A decision in this regard is expected soon.”

Fungai Makoni, the managing director of Mimosa, confirmed Impala was negotiating with “another entity,” but declined to give further details. “Due to contractual obligations we can’t disclose the terms and the entity at this stage until we have finalised with them,” he said in an interview.

Impala, which operates Mimosa, and Sibanye in July said they were undertaking a feasibility study at Zimbabwe’s oldest platinum mine to assess the best way to develop the remaining resource, according to general manager Alex Mushonhiwa.

“Mimosa has largely mined out many of the areas near the present mining infrastructure and has advanced work to potentially access some neighbouring areas across the mine boundary,” Impala spokesman Johan Theron said in an e-mailed response to queries. 

“The most obvious way to do this would be to agree a royalty payment with the neighbouring permit holder.”

A deal made commercial sense because the land was not being mined at present, one of the sources said. President Emmerson Mnangagwa in March this year said Government would enforce its policy of confiscating mining companies’ unused permits under a ‘use it or lose it’ clause, as the country seeks to boost mining and stimulate economic expansion. — Bloomberg

SINO Africa Huijin Holdings (Private) Limited has dragged Yibang Investments Private Limited to court on allegations of encroaching into its mining claim while posing life threatening dangers to their workers and general public due to dangerous mining methods.

Also cited as a respondent in the urgent chamber application is Minister of Mines Winstone Chitando.

An affidavit by Mark Rujuwa from Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners who is representing Sino Africa said if not stopped, the dispute will cause serious problems.

“The dispute between the parties is historical and if this court folds its hands, it will result in anarchy, despondency and brutality especially if one takes into account how there is rampant bloodshed in various gold fields surrounding the country,” he said.

“The parties all have some paperwork from the Ministry of Mines and their dispute is pending in respect of Yibang Investments claims Lawley 105 and 107 which encroach onto the applicant’s gold claim Lawley 95.

“Taking into account that the present ruling from the ministry favours the applicant, it will only be logical and reasonable to allow stay of any mining activities or investment thereof by Yibang Investment until the Supreme Court makes a ruling under SC 374/19 as well as after the resolution of the dispute by the minister,” Rujuwa said.

Rujuwa said it is compelling to have this matter done on an urgent basis because the applicant was aware of the return of Yibang Investments on the disputed claim around the 22nd of October 2019 when the fencing commenced.

“As an officer of the court, I am also persuaded that this matter is urgent since the first respondent seeks to benefit from wrongful and illegal acts which goes down to undermine the superiority the Supreme Court and general public policy considerations.

“The behaviour of the first is unwarranted, illegal and barbaric, hence they should be stopped to interfere with the operations at the applicant’s claims pending the finalisation of due process,” he said.

Sino Africa managing director, Huan Jiansheng said, “The first respondent has begun a robust project of fencing off a significant portion of their mining claim on the basis of a fraudulent illegal court order.

“This will cause harm and commercial urgency cannot be disputed. It is critical to note that the mining activities come in different types and allowing the respondent to use its methods which include deep shafts will jeopardise the land and the plans Sino Zimbabwe has.”

The case is pending.New Zimbabwe

A Mudzi gold panner is battling for life in hospital after he was shot on the shoulder by a fellow panner for demanding back his $50 he had lent the gunman to buy beer.

The shooter is now facing attempted murder charges and is on the run after police launched a manhunt for him.

Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson, Tendai Mwanza confirmed the incident.

He said the incident happened when the suspect, Forbes Mungazi was recently drinking beer with Washington Renzva at the gold-rich Nyamuzizi Business Centre in Mudzi.

As the two continued imbibing, Mungazi reportedly ran out of cash leading to his borrowing $50 from Renzva on the promise that he would repay him later in the day.

However, an hour later, Renzva demanded his money back from Mungazi who then indicated that he was going to pay him with cash he left at his home.

The pair proceeded to Mungazi’s home where, on arrival, Renzva remained outside, whilst his colleague entered a bedroom under the pretext of collecting the money.

Instead, it is further said, Mungazi emerged armed with a pistol he used to shoot at Renzva once on the right shoulder.

Mungazi immediately fled the scene while Renzva was rushed to Makosa clinic where he was later transferred to Kotwa hospital.

A crime report was made at Makosa Police Station and the manhunt for Mungazi continues.

Meanwhile, a Dema man in Seke district has also been hospitalised after three unknown gunmen recently broke into his home at night and shot him.

Mwanza confirmed the incident and said the gunshot victim, Passmore Kusvakusva of Dema Phase 3 in Seke, was asleep when he heard some noise from people who were breaking into his home.

He woke up and rushed towards the direction of the noise to be confronted by the suspects.

One of the intruders drew a pistol and fired at him once.

Kusvakusva was hit on the left side of the chest and fell down. The trio fled the scene with nothing stolen.

A neighbour who had heard the gunshots rushed to the scene to find Kusvakusva bleeding and lying helplessly on the floor.

He was later rushed to Chitungwiza hospital before a police report was made.

Mwanza said no arrests has been made yet_New Zimbabwe