Online Reporter
Nelson Gahadza
Senior Business Reporter
STATE-owned Mutapa Gold Resources is moving to formalise artisanal mining operations at Phoenix Prince mining lease in Bindura following years of unauthorised activity, with contractual arrangements aimed at improving production, safety and gold accountability now in place.
Small-scale and artisanal mining accounts for more than 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s gold production, which reached a record 46,7 tonnes last year, up from 36,48 tonnes the prior year.
The 160-hectare Phoenix Prince mining lease is owned by the gold-mining group’s subsidiary, Freda Rebecca, one of Zimbabwe’s largest gold miners.
Under the new model, miners, shaft operators and service providers will continue operating under Mutapa’s supervision, with the company overseeing production, safety, costs and the movement of gold.
In return, Mutapa will receive 30 percent of gross revenue generated by the operations.
Mutapa Gold general manager for contract mining, Engineer Tirivashe Vere, said the company was taking over more than four years of unauthorised mining at Phoenix Prince and had opted for reorganisation rather than eviction.
“Phoenix Prince is an extension of Mining Lease 21, which belongs to Freda Rebecca Mine and Mutapa Gold Resources.
“As we have taken over the footprint of the Phoenix Prince area, we intend to formalise what the artisanal miners or operators were working on there,” he said.
The lease has more than 50 artisanal miners who have already been reinstated, while draft contracts have been issued to processors operating round mills, leach tanks and carbon-in-pulp plants.
Eng Vere said historical production is estimated at 1 000 tonnes of ore per day, noting that Mutapa expects contractors, initially, to process between 300 and 400 tonnes of ore daily, or about 9 000 tonnes a month.
