Due to a well-organized scheme by political elites, Zimbabwe has been losing gold and other valuable minerals, worsening the nation’s socioeconomic problems and draining the nation of funds.
In the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, at Penhalonga, the Redwing Mine is producing some gold.
According to data from a CRD environmental assessment, the number of unlawful hammer mills and cyanidation tanks has increased dramatically. By December 31, 2023, there will be 28 cyanidation tanks and 774 illegal hammer mills, up from 129 in October 2021.
According to CRD, Redwing Mine is also exporting at least 2,000 bags and seven kilogrammes of ore every day to cyanidation sites and outside hammer mills for the black market.
We have seen a developing network of domestic and international gold purchasers dispersing their activities throughout Mutare’s many suburbs. Through Mozambique, gold from these networks is being trafficked to foreign locations, according to CRD.
In Penhalonga and the surrounding communities, some gold processing plants have been set up on farms, streams, residential areas, schools, and timber estates. This has exposed the local populace to the worst kinds of chemical contamination, noise pollution, and the dumping of hazardous waste, which has rendered the water from the affected rivers unusable.
For instance, as reported by The NewsHawks, mining activity by Better Brands Mining Ltd at Redwing Mine and surrounding areas in Manicaland is leaving a trail of destruction, with hazardous chemicals being deposited into Penhalonga’s Lake Alexander which supplies over 25% of the city of Mutare’s drinking water, sparking fears of a health hazard.
The company, which operates on more than 132 mining claims in Penhalonga alone, has been under fire for the pollution of the lake and other surrounding water bodies.
The gold processing plants are illegally accessing gold ore from porous mining activities by Better Brands. These processing plants cannot account to the government for the gold that they are processing because they are not registered.
The miners transport their ore to the company’s milling facility, where mercury is used to extract gold from ore, while others send it to private millers, who dump the toxic waste into surrounding rivers and streams.
According to CRD, the government has not shown willingness to plug the porous mining activity at Redwing Mine.
“They have been carrying out open pit mining. The gold they get is supposed to be going through Redwing, but they have created illegal hammer mills where gold from the mine is processed to flout taxation systems,” CRD director James Mupfumi told The NewsHawks.
“You will now have a political structure where senior politicians have pits within Redwing. The same people are also setting up the illegal hammer mills. The gold from the mine which is extracted from the mine is not accounted for. The mining operation has been captured to feed the black market, which is controlled through illegal hammer mills and cyanidation tanks. This is why they keep on opening the mine.”
In 2021, CRD submitted a report to the Manicaland provincial mining office and other regulatory authorities raising concern over the establishment of 129 illegal hammer mills and cyanidation sites that were dumping hazardous substances such as mercury and cyanide on the environment.
This saw a task force comprising of Mutasa Rural District Council (MRDC), the Environmental Management Authority (Ema), ministry of Mines and Zimbabwe Republic Police embarking on an operation to clamp down on illegal mining activities in Penhalonga.
The operation led to the suspension of surface mining activities at Redwing Mine by the Joint Operations Command (Joc). Porous surface mining activities at Redwing are feeding gold ore to illegal mining sites that have mushroomed around Redwing Mine.
However, a month after the submission, hazardous surface mining operations resumed at Redwing Mine, with the number of illegal hammer mills surging to 532 in January 2023.
“The majority of these mining sites are operating illegally and those with documents are non-compliant with their environmental impact assessments (EIA). It is alarming to note that all these sites are not mining gold at their claims. They are receiving and processing stolen gold ore from Redwing Mine day and night.
“Workers and residents of Penhalonga alike have accused Better Brands management in the presence of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security for operating several illegal hammer mills outside Redwing as one of the major reasons for laxity of security at Redwing Mine.”
Source | The NewsHawks
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