3.2.4 Illegal Milling and Mining Operations
The Committee noted with concern that another source of gold leakages was at mining companies that have ownership wrangles. A case in point was Redwing Mine in Penhalonga which experienced an influx of illegal miners following a prolonged ownership wrangle. The Committee had an opportunity to meet former workers, management of Redwing Mine and Better Brands. The former workers highlighted that a lot of gold leakages were happening through artisanal mining at the tributary granted to Better Brands. The Committee was told by the workers that there were over eight hundred pits and four hundred hammer mills operating in Penhalonga. In addition, there were many gold buyers, both registered and unregistered, operating in the area. Furthermore, there were over thirteen illegal crossing points into Mozambique and it was believed that those routes were being used to smuggle gold out of the country.
The Committee was informed by the workers that the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, ZRP and Environment Management Agency (EMA) were struggling to handle the illegal mining, milling and trading activities happening in the Penhalonga area. The local police station has no vehicle for patrols and effective enforcement of the law. Fidelity Gold Refiners were not stationed at the mining site to facilitate the buying of gold. There were high chances of under declaration of gold produced and finally sold through formal channels. Better Brands told the Committee that its operations were above board and had declared 46,67kg to Fidelity Gold Refiners for the eight months it had been in operation since July 2021. They asserted that illegal hammer mills that had mushroomed near its mining tribute posed serious operational challenges and were a source of massive gold leakages.
Besides the loss of revenue through smuggling of gold from Penhalonga, the Committee learnt that there were environmental challenges which have resulted in the loss of both people and livestock. It was reported by some aggrieved community members that rivers and streams in the vicinity had been contaminated by cyanide which is a very hazardous mining chemical.
3.2.5 Formal Gold Mining Operations
The Committee visited Renco Gold Mine which is under RioZim and was informed that the company has always been able to account for all its gold, from the extraction of the ore up to elution point, where gold was extracted. In terms securing the precious mineral, the Committee noted that the company had adequate security systems in place which included a perimeter fence, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and well equipped security guards. It also emerged that gold production at the mine was on the decline due to a number of factors which included poor ore grade and power outages among others. However, the security management at the mine appealed to the Committee to assist the company to acquire authorisation to use drones to augment existing security systems. Nevertheless, the Committee queried the absence of State security or government officials at the mining site to verify whether production statistics on site were not tempered with. Hon. Zwizwai having removed Hon. Chinotimba’s tie saying that it was yellow in colour.[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
HON. BRID. GEN. (RTD.) MAYIHLOME: The Committee could not rule out the possibility of under declaration of gold because there were no government officials at any of the privately owned gold mines in the country to verify or monitor production statistics at the source. It was observed that the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development receives and accepts production statistics sent by gold mining companies in good faith.
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