Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
A CHROME-MINING firm, Bailzone Mining (Pvt) Ltd, has been compelled to cease operations in Chiromo Village, Zaka, after the High Court upheld a villagers’ application challenging its mining rights.
The ruling was based on the firm’s interference with the villagers’ livelihoods and ancestral lands.
The villagers, including Gideon Rushinga, John Rushinga, Million Rushinga and Pride Garauzive, argued that the mining activities encroached on their homesteads, fields, grazing land, graveyards and other traditional sites.
They cited the Minister of Mines and Mining Development and the Sheriff of Zimbabwe as respondents in their case.
The villagers sought a judicial declaration to invalidate Bailzone Mining’s certificates of registration issued by the Provincial Mining Director in Masvingo.
They also requested the annulment of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report from the Environmental Management Agency, asserting that the mining firm should be prohibited from conducting any activities in their area.
The court heard that Bailzone held 60 certificates of registration for various parts of the village. However, conflicts arose as the firm’s operations disrupted the villagers’ daily activities.
Initially, Bailzone sought a court order to prevent the villagers from interfering with its mining activities, but this request was dismissed.
The court found that Bailzone failed to prove it had the consent of the Zaka Rural District Council to conduct prospecting in the area. Encouraged by this decision, the villagers returned to the High Court to challenge the validity of Bailzone’s EIA reports, claiming the mining certificates were also invalid.
Bailzone opposed the villagers’ application, arguing that its mining licenses had not been revoked.
