Owners reclaim Eldorado Mine

Sydney Kawadza Mashonaland West Bureau Chief
THE owners of Eldorado Mine near Chinhoyi have resumed operations after wresting control of the gold mine that had been besieged by illegal miners, leading to a number of tragic accidents. Government had also threatened to repossess the mine’s licence.

The mine owners, Wenzhou Enterprises, resumed operations on Tuesday this week after installing new equipment that is expected to boost production.

In an interview, mine manager Mr Mish Misinga said the mine had employed 90 workers and was operating at 50 percent capacity, while expectations were that it will reach full capacity in the next three months.

“The mine had been invaded by illegal gold miners, but with the assistance of the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other stakeholders, we managed to seal off all the areas that they used to gain entry into the mine,” he said.

Mine officials on Saturday last week successfully held a cleansing ceremony to appease the spirits of illegal miners who died in August last year after a tunnel collapsed.
At least 14 bodies of the illegal gold miners are believed to have been entombed in the mine.

Mr Masinga said they had installed new equipment up to Level 11 of the mine, which has 26 levels.
“The illegal gold miners had destroyed some of the equipment, but we have since replaced the damaged tools while we have also brought in a front-end loader and tractor to boost operations,” he said.