How wildlife and mining can coexist

ZVISHAVANE-based Mimosa Mining Company has embraced a win-win scenario of using mining and mining skills for the benefit of wildlife and the planet’s health. The company has started keeping wildlife as part of its climate change adaptation plan for biodiversity.

The company has set aside land within its existing tailings storage facility (TSF) area to introduce wildlife such as zebras, wildebeest and waterbucks. The TSF has a footprint of 114 hectares, within an area of approximately 120 hectares. The company is also constructing a new US$75 million TSF, which comes with a water dam. The project is 90 percent complete and will be commissioned in April 2024.

The TSF is a facility that holds the leftover waste known as tailings after ore has been processed to remove mineral concentrates. It is designed to ensure the environmental safety of the operations and the surrounding communities. The new TSF will extend the life of the mine, which was set to cease operations mid-next year without it.

Mimosa Mining Company, which is jointly owned by South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater and Impala Platinum, operates on the southern portion of the Zimbabwean Great Dyke near Zvishavane town. The company mines 10 metals, including rhodium, palladium, ruthenium, gold, silver, iridium, nickel, copper and cobalt.

It started out as a nickel mine, before switching to the platinum group metals (PGMs) as market demands shifted.

Mimosa general manager Steve Ndiyamba said the company was aware that mining was a finite activity and wanted to leave a legacy for the local community. He said the company had set up a recreational facility with wild game and aimed at sustainability even after mining. He said the company had also invested significantly in health, education, water and sanitation, infrastructure and sustainable projects over the years.

“It’s a facility which is technically designed to make sure that our operations are environmentally safe. The Tailings Storage Facility itself is located in such a position it doesn’t pose a danger to Mimosa staff or the surrounding communities now or in the future. A couple of years ago, we were faced with a situation where the current TSF was nearing the end of its life. So in the absence of this new storage facility, Mimosa was going to cease its operations mid-next year.

“At some point this will all come to an end and so we want to leave a legacy. We are setting up a recreational facility there and we have introduced wild game there. We aim at sustainability even after mining. Once we are done, the locals can come and see wild animals without travelling far to other parks.

“We understand that the resources we mine are finite, so we have invested significantly in the local community. Over the years we have invested in health, education, water and sanitation, infrastructure and sustainable projects. Guided by a desire to create lasting legacies, recently we have been gravitating towards sustainable projects with an impact on the community,” said Ndiyamba.

The Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Engineer Polite Kambamura, officials from the ministry and members of the media visited the mine and saw some of the wildlife at the park. He said he was happy that the mine was thinking beyond mining and creating a mutually beneficial relationship between wildlife and mining.

“Mimosa is working on a new TSF and that is coming with a new dam that will be turned into a recreational facility. We envision people, locals coming to the recreational park to see wildlife and enjoy tourism. This is a welcome development which we applaud and hope that other mining companies will do for the communities where they extract the mineral resources,” said Engineer Kambamura.

According to Peter Makwanya, a Climate Change Researcher and lecturer at Zimbabwe Open University, the biodiversity conservation plan will significantly boost the mine’s environmental conservation efforts.

“Biodiversity conservation is the practice of protecting and preserving the wealth and variety of species, habitats, ecosystems, and genetic diversity on the planet, which is important for our health, wealth, food, fuel, and services we depend on,” he said.

Makwanya added that biodiversity supports food security and sustained livelihoods through genetic diversity.

“Genes regulate all biological processes on the planet and increase the ability of organisms to cope with environmental stressors,” he said.

President Mnangagwa has urged mining companies to protect the environment in areas they operate from while also ensuring that communities and workers benefited from such projects given that minerals get depleted over time.