Mutapa Gold Resources is laying the technical groundwork for the formalisation of artisanal mining at Phoenix Prince Mine, with the state-owned mining group positioning the operation to benefit from Government-backed equipment and support programmes for small-scale miners, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The development comes as Mutapa moves to introduce a structured mining model at Phoenix Prince, popularly known as Kitsiyatota, following years of informal mining activity and safety concerns at the site.
Speaking at a town hall meeting held at Freda Rebecca Gold Mine, Mutapa Gold General Manager for Contract Mining, Engineer Tirivashe Vere, said the company was deploying a multidisciplinary technical team to support miners operating on Mining Lease 21.
“We have got geologists, we have got metallurgists, we have got a mining engineer, we have got a surveyor. We are making a full team, and these people are going to support your operation,” Vere said.
The technical support is expected to strengthen mine planning, surveying, ore evaluation, safety and production monitoring as Mutapa moves to bring artisanal operators into formal contracts.
Access to equipment is emerging as a key component of the model.
Vere said Mutapa was already facilitating arrangements under which small-scale miners could obtain equipment through loan-based arrangements, while the company was also working with service providers capable of bringing additional machinery and capacity to mining sites.
“We are already arranging for small-scale miners to go and collect on a loan account. We back that loan facility by just saying they’re working for us and they’re going to produce this,” Vere said.
He added that Mutapa was working with service providers that had previously extended equipment and capacity to miners who would otherwise struggle to finance machinery independently.
“We also have people whom we are working with on the other sites who have already lent something that these miners might not have been able to. Some are willing to bring the facilities and capacity to the site,” Vere said.
The equipment arrangements could potentially complement Government’s wider efforts to improve access to machinery and financing for Zimbabwe’s artisanal and small-scale mining sector.
However, Mutapa’s comments do not amount to confirmation that the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has specifically allocated equipment to Phoenix Prince.
The potential for Government equipment support comes as the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development pushes to professionalise and mechanise artisanal and small-scale mining.
Government has identified ASM as a major contributor to national gold production and has been expanding programmes aimed at improving miners’ access to training, finance, technology and equipment.
The Government has also set an ambitious target of training and licensing hundreds of thousands of artisanal miners, while the Zimbabwe School of Mines has proposed making its Certificate in Principles of Responsible Small-Scale Mining a requirement for small-scale mining title holders.
For Phoenix Prince, access to equipment would add another layer to Mutapa’s formalisation model, which already combines technical supervision, contractual mining arrangements and performance-based access to mining areas.
Vere said Mutapa was also deploying technology to improve its understanding of underground conditions.
The company has introduced ground-penetrating radar to assist with the assessment of underground voids and safety conditions, while surveyors will be responsible for coordinates, geospatial work and volumetric assessments.
Mining engineers, meanwhile, will oversee mine planning, training and contractor management.
The project management function has been assigned to Navid Incorporated, which will oversee day-to-day operations while Mutapa’s technical specialists provide professional support.
The model is intended to give artisanal miners operational flexibility while bringing their activities under a more controlled technical and contractual framework.
Production potential
Vere said artisanal miners had previously been processing around 1,000 tonnes of ore a day at the operation, although the initial formalised phase is expected to start at between 300 and 400 tonnes daily.
At 300 tonnes per day, the operation would process approximately 9,000 tonnes a month.
Vere said that at an assumed grade of one gramme per tonne and a recovery rate of between 60% and 70%, monthly recovered gold could be around six kilogrammes.
He said Mutapa’s share under the proposed arrangement would be approximately 30% of gold produced.
The figures are projections, and actual production will depend on grade, recovery, mining performance and the effectiveness of the new operating structure.
Contracts replace informal arrangements
The formalisation programme will also change how miners obtain access to mining areas.
Rather than operating through informal tribute arrangements, miners will receive contracts through the project management structure.
Vere said access would be linked to performance, with operators who fail to work their allocated areas potentially losing access.
“If you are not performing, you are going to be shown out. You don’t come and take a shaft for speculation because someone else is looking for the economic benefit from that shaft,” he said.
The company also intends to introduce stronger access controls to reduce unauthorised movement into the mining area and limit opportunities for mineral leakages and conflict.
“They need to be identified, and we also need to have access control in the area. We also limit in terms of the interaction of outsiders and insiders because that brings in leakages apart from the violence,” Vere said.
From Elvington to Phoenix Prince
The Phoenix Prince initiative builds on a formalisation approach Mutapa Gold has already introduced at Elvington Mine.
The company has previously said it intends to replicate the Elvington model at other operations, with Phoenix Prince becoming one of the latest sites where Mutapa is seeking to bring artisanal miners into structured contractual arrangements.
The approach combines technical support, training, equipment access, mine planning and production accountability while allowing artisanal miners to remain directly involved in mining.
For Phoenix Prince, the immediate question will be whether the combination of private-sector equipment arrangements and potential Government support can provide miners with sufficient machinery to improve productivity while maintaining safety and environmental standards.
With equipment access increasingly central to the Government’s ASM mechanisation agenda, Phoenix Prince could become an important example of how state-backed mining companies can connect formalised artisanal operations with the wider machinery, financing and technical-support ecosystem being developed by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
