Security foils armed robbery at Pickstone Peerless Mine

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter

ALERT security personnel at Pickstone Peerless Mine in Chegutu foiled an elaborate attempted gold heist by gun-toting and machete-wielding armed robbers who, working together with an employee at the mine, attempted to execute a movie-style armed robbery on Monday evening.

Three armed robbers were apprehended by officers from Allied Security during the failed heist while a female employee who works as a sampler and technician was also arrested for conspiring with the robbers.

Chaired by Stanford Moyo, Pickstone Peerless Mine is owned by Dallaglio, a mining unit of Padenga Holdings Pvt Ltd which also operates Eureka Mine in Guruve.

President Mnangagwa in April commissioned the second phase of Pickstone Peerless’ underground mine, which reportedly set the company back US$27 million. This was after having already commissioned the first phase for US$22 million earlier this year.

According to Trevor Mthimkhulu the security supervisor, guards from Allied Security, who are responsible for security at the mine, apprehended the three suspects after they had exhibited suspicious behavior.

“On the 29th of July between 19:45 and 19:49 at Peerless Pickstone in Chegutu, we spotted three suspicious individuals who were not clad in any protective clothing or any uniforms that showed that they were working anywhere in the mine area. They were seen roaming around and they had smuggled a car into the premises using a community gate that is used by community members when coming to get water.

“The way that they were moving aroused suspicion and I was called by the security officers on the ground. I rushed to the scene and I tasked the plainclothes security officers to monitor them. As they did this, they discovered that these guys had been asking a lot of questions, as if they were looking for someone. When approached, they claimed that they were looking for their relative who is also employed by Pickstone Mine,” he said.

Mthimkhulu revealed that upon their arrest, the robbers had in their possession a map that detailed the layout of the mine as well as R43 000 in cash.

“When security tried to escort them to the person that they claimed to be visiting, they realised that they had machetes hidden under their clothes. They were grabbed by the security team and taken for interrogation. During this process, they were searched, and R20 000 in clean bills was discovered. They also had R23000 in their car which made for a total of R43 000.

“When asked about this money they claimed that they were businessman from South Africa that intended to do business in the area. However, what was most disturbing was that they possessed a map that detailed entry and exit points, the positioning of the guards, and how they would make their way around the boiler. It seems as if they wanted to make their way around the carbon boiler,” he said.

Mr Mthimkhulu revealed that during the interrogation, the alleged robbers also revealed that there was another crew armed with guns waiting nearby to initiate the next stage of the heist.

“The guards took the robbers’ phones and called the employee who seemed to be working with them. They spoke to her as if everything was still in order and she was giving them directions to take to reach her. She promised to reveal more information when they got to her. Our team then apprehended her and interrogated her together with the other suspects. During the interrogation, they revealed that another crew was waiting and armed.

“We approached the vehicle that they were in and shots were fired. The suspects fled from the scene but we could not pursue them because we had no reaction car available on the ground. We called the local military base and other security companies and made them aware of the fact that there were armed robbers on the loose. We later took the four suspects to local police in Kadoma,” he said.

Retired Major Abednico Sikhuni, the Allied Security Operations Director said that the foiled heist was a timely warning to armed robbers who thought they were sleeping on duty.

“We are very proud of the sterling job, bravery, and professionalism shown by our guards. Apprehending armed robbers is not an easy feat and in this instance, they had a firearm and machetes but still managed to protect the clients’ gold without fatalities. This should be a warning to anyone with such intentions, we will always be prepared for such attempts,” he said.