Online Reporter
Emmanuel Kafe
Check Point Desk
FRESH evidence from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has strengthened the case against Zheng Zhangxian and his company Reajin Enterprises, confirming that the gold ore dump at the centre of the US$875 000 mineral theft scandal lies outside the legal mining boundaries of his operation in Mudzi, Mashonaland East Province.
In a letter dated October 16, 2025, provincial mining director for Mashonaland East Mr Tendai Kashiri informed the Zimbabwe Republic Police CID Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit that the coordinates of the Zhangveng Mining Syndicate’s dump site (Site ME 61) were verified by a Government surveyor and found to be 1,6 kilometres outside the licensed area.
“It is clear from the report that the position of the dump is not within the confines of Zhangveng Mining Syndicate’s Site ME 61. It is actually 1,6 kilometres away from Site ME 61,” reads the ministry letter, stamped by the Provincial Mining Director’s office.
The revelation adds a new layer to what has already been described by the Mutoko Regional Magistrates Court as one of Zimbabwe’s most brazen and systematic gold ore theft operations in a story published by this paper last month.
Earlier this year, the court convicted Reajin Enterprises of contravening Section 113(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and Section 379 of the Mines and Minerals Act.
The company was fined US$3 000, ordered to pay restitution of US$875 667,67 to small-scale miner Mr Emmanuel Ndemera and to return the residue dump unlawfully removed from his claim, Koodoo 83, in Makaha.
The ministry’s latest communication to the police confirms what investigators and court witnesses have long alleged — that Zheng’s operations extended well beyond legally pegged ground, using the cover of local syndicates to mask illegal mining.
According to ministry sources, the survey team conducted a ground verification exercise earlier this month following requests by police investigators probing whether Reajin had complied with the court’s restitution order.
The resulting coordinates showed the dump was deposited off-site, possibly to conceal its origins.
“This shows clear intent to mislead regulators,” said a senior Mines Ministry official familiar with the investigation.
“The dump’s location, over a kilometre from the registered site, suggests deliberate concealment rather than administrative error.”
The ministry’s report also deepens scrutiny of internal oversight failures that allowed Reajin’s illegal operations to continue for four years.
As previously reported, Inspector Antony Singende, a ministry survey technician involved in the initial boundary inspections, was dismissed after a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) sting operation found he had solicited a US$350 bribe. Singende now faces criminal abuse of office charges at the Marondera Magistrates Court.
Adding to the irregularities, in August the ministry formally declared that Zheng’s partnership with local businessman Mr Vengai Kurarama, operating as the “Zhangveng Syndicate,” was unlawful.
“The law provides that foreign nationals must be cleared with the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) so that they form companies, not syndicates with locals,” a ministry communication stated. This effectively means Zheng’s mining venture was never legally constituted, raising questions about how it was allowed to operate, export ore and process gold through the Zhangveng Milling Plant.
Despite the conviction and restitution order, Mr Ndemera is yet to recover his full losses.
