Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Local media are reporting that one person died and three were injured after a wall collapsed at the community-operated Gaika Mine in Kwekwe, central Zimbabwe.
The miners were digging for gold and allegedly were using explosives, which weakened the shaft where they were working.
Three of them ended up trapped for a few hours but were rescued by colleagues working nearby while the fatal victim, identified as Stenford Machangai, was crushed by a giant rock that had to be removed with a hydraulic jack together with his body.
According to Africa.com, the Zimbabwe National Army has been dealing for months with people working illegally at the mine site.
The operation is said to have been reopened by the ruling party, Zanu-PF, after 20 years of closure under a community ownership scheme. However, The Sunday News reports that such activities are rejected by its original owner, Duration Gold, a subsidiary of UK-based Clarity Enterprises.
Comments
Martin Makanza
Gaika mine is an open pit sitting on flooded underground workings. The open pittable oxide ores aminable to cyanidation by heap leach was mined by Reedbuck Gold from 1992 to 2003 after the original underground workings were closed by Union Carbide’s Mopane mines. Obviously the drill and blast operations in the open pit left the underground pillars weak and susceptible to collapsing. This situation is made worse by the so called community miners who cannot reach virgin ore due to flooding and are content on removing mine pillars originally left for support causing further mine structure instability. If common sense does not prevail to stop this senseless mining operation, lives will continue to be lost at this location. Where is the Ministry of Mines, Mine Engineering Department in the face of all this unsafe mining in the name of community self help project when it’s actually unbridled greed by heartless individals. If the community must mine at Gaika then the sponsors of this project must provide the right mining equipment and technical support. Its not true that the mine was closed for 20 years. Gaika mine has always been operational with the present owners running a mine tailings CIS operation. The so called community miners are probably getting in the way of a major mining investment by the current owners who are by the way foreign investors. Who is going to put money into a project/country where anybody can come onto your property at any time and do whatever they please? So much for FDI. Sad.