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There is rampant mishandling and storage of explosives by small and medium scale miners, an audit has shown.
This has which is attributed to inadequate inspections and lack of education campaigns, thereby exposing many people to dangers.
So bad is the situation that some explosives were kept in bedrooms of mine owners and offices, with most of them unlicensed.
This was revealed by Auditor General, Ms Mildred Chiri in her 2019 audit report on Management of Occupational Health and Safety in Mining Operations by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
Other observations noted were absence of database of mining claims, inadequate routine inspections, uneven vehicle distribution and lack of testing and disaster recovery equipment.
In her report, Ms Chiri said the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development had no database of mines in the country.
“However in place of a database, the ministry was relying on mining registration cards and monthly revenue returns submitted as their reference for database of mines,” she said. “According to the mining registration cards, as at November 2017, the mines for all provinces were 57 998.”
On explosives, Ms Chiri said from inspections carried out, 28 small mines in six provinces that she had audits were not properly handling explosives.
It was observed that the small scale miners had no licenses to explore explosives, while other medium and large scale miners were properly handling explosives.
It was noted that at M&M Mine in Mashonaland East province, a box of explosives was kept in an office with furniture and workers, while at Medic Syndicate in Mashonaland Central province, a magazine was kept in the bedroom of the mine owner.
At Intercome quarry, a magazine was noted with 17kg of gun powder and at another mine in Mashonaland Central province, a magazine was at the workshop with 277 fuses and two roles igniter codes in violation of explosive handling regulations.
“Improper handling and safe keeping of explosives can and has led to lives being lost in mining operations,” said Ms Chiri.
She noted that there was a problem of vehicles, with some provincial mining directors’ official vehicle not available for other duties. “At the time of audit, December 2017, it was, however, noted that Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces had at one point no vehicles for more than a month, as the vehicles were being used by the gold mobilisation team,” she said.
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