dyton mupawaenda
Ivan Zhakata-Herald Correspondent
Last year saw miners working hard towards ramping up production despite challenges ranging from power outages to softening commodity prices.
The sharp drop in commodity prices in 2023 militated against efforts to meet the US$12 billion target with exports by 30 November being at around US$5 billion and domestic consumption around US$500 million.
A number of small scale miners distinguished themselves in the year under review with some of them embarking on social responsibility programmes.
Mr Scott Sakupwanya
Mr Scott Sakupwanya is a gold buying agent as well as Better Brands Jewellery (BBJ) founder. Through BBJ Sakupwanya has empowered many youths in the country by allowing them to work on his several claims around the country. BBJ has over 5 000 youths operating at Redwing Mine in Manicaland. BBJ has also empowered many youths in Mashonaland and Matabeleland regions providing them with equipment and capital. BBJ delivered over 7 tonnes of gold to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) in 2022.
Mr Sakupwanya encouraged small scale miners to embark on corporate social responsibility programmes to ensure people benefit from mining proceeds.
Some of the programmes include investment in water supply, road maintenance and rehabilitation among others.
Ms Henrietta Rushwaya
Currently the President of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Ms Rushwaya has been making significant strides towards the growth and development of the artisanal and small scale mining industry through introducing a number of innovative measures to increase production.
She has been leading a crusade for small scale mining operations to be more formalised and sustainable.
In 2023 , Ms Rushwaya has made a number of initiatives to support women and youths through helping them to register mining claims and sponsoring some of their operations.
She is also paying school fees for over 1 000 learners across the country as part of her social responsibility programmes.
Mr Spencer Tshuma
Mr Spencer Tshuma is the Director and founder of Tshuma Milling as well as the Director of Abacus Mining Investments operating around Chegutu, Kadoma and Kwekwe. Tshuma has been assisting a number of small scale miners around the country with mining equipment and capital. Many miners have received trucks and excavators from the miner.
Mr Tshuma has been pivotal in ensuring sustainable water supply and road rehabilitation in the areas that he mines. He has also been building schools and paying for school fees for the under privileged.
At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Tshuma handed over 30 tonnes of maize and 60 tonnes of maize meal to communities in Bulawayo affected by the lockdown.
Mr Johanne Sithole
Mr Johanne Sithole is the Managing Director of Murasta Mining as well as a member of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and Kadoma Miners Association. Sithole has been employing interns from tertiary institutions and teaching them to use computer-aided valuation and mine design systems.
This has been providing great facilities in project development and planning to curb mine accidents and increase mining transparency.
Through his Murasta Mining, Mr Sithole has empowered small scale and artisanal miners with equipment and consumables to increase production.
In 2023 Mr Sithole created a programme under which his company identifies the best performing pupils in schools near his operations to sponsor their education.
Mr Makumba Nyenje
Mr Makumba Nyenje is currently Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Midlands Province chairperson and CEO for Zimbabwe Safety Environmental Health Council (ZIMSHEC). Mr Nyenje has toured Mberengwa and Zvishavane teaching small scale miners on the importance of worker’s safety as well as their health.
He is also leading a campaign to ensure that the communities benefit from mining activities and to prevent pollution and environmental degradation through sustainable management and use of natural resources.
Mr Nyenje also owns Rose 25 custom milling which he has been developing to function as a gold service centre to ensure that leakages of gold are minimised in the country.
Mr Nyenje has also been supporting small scale miners to venture into iron mining and smelting as well as small scale steel manufacturing. He is also working with the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) to ensure that women iron ore miners operating in Buchwa Mountain find a lucrative market for their iron ore.
Mr Philemon Mokoele
Mr Mokoele is currently Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Matabeleland South Chairperson. He has been pivotal and vocal this year when it comes to small scale mining growth and development and has supported many youths to venture into mining through funding their operations.
Mr Mokoele has been encouraging small scale miners to grow from small scale mining to medium scale and has been leading by example at his mine by creating both vertical and inclined shafts at his mine with steel and concrete headgears. The headgears support wheel mechanisms for suspending winding cables that transport workers and ore up and down deep level shafts.
He has been encouraging small scale miners to improve from artisanal operations to imitating large scale mines like Blanket Mine in Gwanda.
Mr Marufu Sithole
Mr Marufu Sithole is member of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) who has proven that artisanal mining like operations in small scale mining can become a thing of the past.
Mr Sithole has been engaging different artisanal miners into a formalised mining setup where he encourages them to set up syndicates and sometimes provide them with capital to kick start formalised mining.
Mr Sithole’s mining operations employ qualified staff just like large-small mines.
Mr Timothy Chizuzu
Mr Timothy Chizuzu is a miner, mining consultant and environmentalist with 15 years’ experience in consultancy.
Mr Chizuzu is currently Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Youth in Mining chairperson as well as Zimbabwe Prospectors Association (ZPA) Secretary-General. He is also the founder of the National Environmental Awareness Trust (NEAT).
Chizuzu has been vocal on mining safety since 2020 leading him to organise a number of workshops on the health and safety of mine workers. He has also engaged the services of professionals (mining graduates) on his mining concessions to have professional mining operations. He has also called for small-scale miners to employ graduates to professionalise the small-scale and artisanal mining sector. He through different platforms, also called for the graduates from different fields of mining to form syndicates or register companies and peg their own claims and implement what they learnt from school.
Mr Nyasha Magadhi
At 23, Mr Magadhi is currently Young Miners for Economic Development (YMED) president. He has a lithium venture under exploration in Mutoko and has been taking a leading role towards youth and women empowerment in the country.
Mr Magadhi through YMED has been pegging mines for youths and women for free. He has created a venture where he identifies a district by its potential and peg a mine for free to ensure every district benefits from mining.
Mr Anderson Tsikira
Mr Anderson Tsikira has created what could be a model of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) firms through building a state-of-the-art school and other projects.
He is sponsoring fish projects for the Mberengwa community as well as ensuring that the water pumped from his mines is put to good use.
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