EMA shuts down gold mine

Patrick Chitumba and Lovemore Zigara Midlands Reporters
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has shut down Jessiah Mining Syndicate in the Midlands.

The mine was allegedly operating without proper mining documents and the agency said it was posing a humanitarian and environmental risk.

This was revealed during a tour by EMA board members who visited various mining sites in Kwekwe and Shurugwi yesterday to get an appreciation of how mining had negatively impacted on the environment in the two mining towns.

Former EMA Midlands provincial officer, Benson Bhasera who is now occupying the same post in Harare Metropolitan Province said the mine was operating without proper storage facilities for cyanide and mercury at their gold milling plants.

“We welcome development in the area but this should be done in line with the laws of this country. After we inspected this mine we realised that the mine operations weren’t in conformity with environmental laws because there were no proper facilities for the storage of mercury and cyanide which poses a great danger to people if not properly handled,” said Bhasera.

“We’ve therefore decided to shut down the mine until they conform to environmental laws.”

Meanwhile, mining syndicates in Kwekwe say illegal gold panners are vandalising their waste water reticulation infrastructure to get water for their panning activities.

Jonas Chimuka, the administration executive of Mapurazi Mining Syndicate said the artisanal miners had destroyed the perimeter fence around the mine and destroyed effluent water pipes.

“We’re playing cat and mouse games with the gold miners who are destroying our fence around the mine and are destroying our pipes which discharge water that would have been used in the gold milling process so that they can also use it for their activities,” he said.

“We’ve enlisted the services of security personnel but the scourge is not stopping and fencing our mining area is an ongoing process because as soon as you erect a perimeter fence, it just takes days before it’s vandalised again,” he added.

Chimuka said due to police raids, the panners are sometimes forced to use sewer water from nearby pipes which lead to BD Mine compound for their activities.