By Wallace Mawire in Kadoma and Chegutu District
Zimbabwe:A planetGOLD Zimbabwe project which is just beginning in Zimbabwe and is at mapping phase is aiming to reduce the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Zimbabwe. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is the largest source of mercury pollution in the world, according to IMPACT,the Project Executers.
The initiative is expected to improve the health and lives of local mining communities and is implemented in 23 countries globally. The planetGOLD Zimbabwe project is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It is executed by IMPACT, in partnership with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Agency (EMA).
The planetGOLD Zimbabwe project plans to support 7 500 men and women across 11 districts of Zimbabwe, reducing mercury use by 4.85 tonnes. It aims to reduce the use of mercury in the artisanal and small-scale gold sector through a holistic, multisectorial,integrated formalization approach and to increase access to traceable gold supply chains and finance for the adoption of sustainable mercury-free technologies.
Key strategic components of the project include training national artisanal and small-scale gold mining specialists on implementation and scaling of best practices,including mercury-free technologies and formalization,among others.
According to the executer in a statement, miners will be sensitised on risks of mercury use,including capacitating the actors to use mercury-free processing techniques.
The project educate,raise awareness and transfer knowledge to the global Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASGM) community. It will also share knowledge and information to support better management of the sector.
planetGOLD Zimbabwe says in a project overview that artisanal and small-scale gold is a crucial part of Zimbabwe’s national economy, contributing significantly to people’s livelihoods. The sector is reported to be especially important in rural areas, where alternative economic opportunities are limited.
The implementers add that the sector in Zimbabwe operates with varying levels of formalization. They add that efforts to formalize the sector have been made through the establishment of gold milling and buying centres and the registration of actors.
It is however, said that the poor extent of formalization remains a significant challenge, contributing to non-compliance with legal provisions and increasing mercury emissions. More than 300 000 people are reported to work directly in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector in Zimbabwe.
The sector is reported to contribute to over 40% of Zimbabwe’s mineral exports. The sector is said to account for more than 60% of deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), the country’s sole buyer, refiner and exporter of gold in the country.
Some gold from the artisanal sector is reported to being still traded illicitly through illegal channels. Project details add that artisanal and small-scale mining activities are primarily concentrated in four provinces of the country considered to be hotspots due to high density of gold processing sites and large numbers of miners.
The selected provinces in Zimbabwe include Midlands Mashonaland West, Matebeleland South and Mashonaland Central. The workforce in the sector is said to be diverse with significant participation of both men and women
However, it is reported that women are particularly vulnerable to mercury exposure due to their involvement in processing and washing stages,where exposure levels are reported to be highest. Mercury is reported to contaminate the soil, water,air and the equipment that is used.
It is also said to be highly toxic to miners and others who come into direct contact with it when vaporised or among children and pregnant women. The project implementers said mercury emitted to the air can also contaminate water fish and wildlife,far from the mine it was released.
It is added that 96% of Zimbabwe’s artisanal gold is produced using mercury and more than 24 tonnes of mercury are being released annually from the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector in Zimbabwe.
In 2013. Zimbabwe signed on to the Minamata Convention on Mercury which aims to reduce and eliminate mercury use in gold processing. The country became a party to the Convention in 19 August 2021.
Also Zimbabwe’s National Action Plan released in November 2019 sets out national level commitments to address the challenges.It also emphasises the need for strong cooperation among government agencies, artisanal and small-scale mining associations and other stakeholders to promote responsible mining practices and improve the health and safety of communities.
Nyaradzo Mutonhori, planetGOLD Zimbabwe Project Manager said they aim to achieve a safe, clean and sustainable artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector in Zimbabwe through reducing the use of mercury by 4.85 tonnes at the end of five years.
She said the project is going to do this using four approaches using a holistic, integrated approach to formalization where theyvwill assist artisanal and small-scale gold miners to formalize and be integrated into the formal economy.
Mutonhori said they will do so by modeling successful pilots where the large-scale mining sector will work with artisanal and small-scale gold miners to support formalization.
. She added that the other component is the access to finance component because they believe that if artisanal and small-scale gold miners have access to finance, then they will be able to acquire mercury-free gold processing technologies.
“So we are going to be working with banks, microfinance institutions, and other financial services actors to enable ease of access to finance for artisanal and small-scale gold miners,” Mutonhori said.
She said the third project component is the technologies component. This is saying that this is where thevproject is going to introduce mercury-free gold processing technologies through setting up 11 demonstration sites in the 11 project districts for mercury-free gold processing.
She said the third component of the project is the technologies pillar where the project is going to establish eight mercury-free gold processing centers in the project district so that artisanal and small-scale gold miners can transition to safer, mercury-free gold processing technologies.
The fourth component of the project is the knowledge and communications where they are looking at producing knowledge products on ASM formalization, technologies and access to finance and also share the lessons from implementation of the project to inform the broader programme.
Through the project, visits have been made to Bubi District in Matabeleland province at Waterwitch Mine. Waterwitch is one of the projects sites and is a mercury hotspot because they work and contract artisanal and small-scale gold miners from the surrounding communities. Mutonhori said up to 1000 artisanal and small-scale gold miners supply the ores at the site and process their gold using mercury.
Other recent visits under the project have been made to Gzone Milling and Mining in Chegutu district and at Trafalgar X4 mine at Battlefields under Kadoma district where both sites witness extensive use of mercury in gold processing.
