Online Reporter
Judith Phiri
Zimpapers Business Hub
THE Zimbabwe Safety Health and Environmental Council (Zimshec) has said the development of the Responsible Mining Toolkit is at an advanced stage, as efforts to curtail disasters in the mining sector gather more pace.
The initiative complements the Government’s Responsible Mining Audit, a comprehensive assessment of mining operations to ensure they comply with environmental, safety, labour and other relevant regulations, while also ensuring that they are conducted in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
In an interview, Zimshec executive director, Mr Philemon Mokuele, said extensive consultations had been undertaken to feed into the development of the toolkit.
“We did consultation for the toolkit in Mberengwa and Gwanda, where we invited representatives from mines, especially people in managerial positions, so that we train and consult on the challenges they face in their mining activities,” he said.
“This was to ensure that we develop the toolkit from the information gathered. Various stakeholders were also in attendance, such as representatives from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, Environmental Management Agency (EMA), local authorities, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), among others.”
He said the toolkit was a guideline for responsible mining in the small-scale and artisanal miners sector and called for the formalisation of the sector, which he said was involved in unsafe mining operations and unregulated mining.
Mr Mokuele said unregulated mining affected the health of miners and caused various diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), silicosis, and noise-induced hearing loss, among others.
He added, “This is where most of the environmental degradation is done due to poor mining practices. On the legal part, the compliance in the mining sector is a bit low, which is also affecting formalisation. “The toolkit highlights all these challenges and provides solutions for them. “It will help miners by providing clear guidelines of the requirements of statutory standards of best mining and enhancing the environmental stability by promoting responsible mining.”Mr Mokuele said that with the development of the toolkit at an advanced stage, they were currently doing validation and would hold workshops to train miners on how to use it.
He said they would also do the monitoring of the adoption to find out how the miners were implementing the things they had learnt during the workshop.
“Small-scale miners play a crucial role in the country’s economy as significant contributors to the mining sector, particularly in gold production.
“They account for a substantial portion of the gold delivered, about 60 percent to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, the country’s sole buyer of gold, and their activities significantly impact the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employment,” he said.
Mr Mokuele said they carried out several trainings on safety and awareness on valuing the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), while they also visited mine accident sites to understand the causes.
He said they assessed the sites with the help of the relevant authorities to understand the causes of the accidents.
“The toolkit will provide solutions on how to avoid and be on the lookout for most mine accidents. We are hoping to finish it before the end of the year, and after that, we will make sure it circulates throughout the country and it will be accessible in all the mining provinces.”
Mining fatalities have been a cause for concern in the country, prompting calls for urgent safety reforms. Zimbabwe’s mining sector faced a tragic toll in 2023, with 237 fatalities reported, making it the deadliest year in over 50 years and sparking urgent calls for better mine safety standards.
The Government has time and again called on miners to prioritise safety measures, including proper drainage systems, reinforced supports and regular weather monitoring to minimise dangers.
The mining sector is a vital part of Zimbabwe’s economy, contributing significantly to both GDP and exports. It accounts for roughly 12 percent of the country’s GDP and is responsible for 60 to 80 percent of its export earnings.
