COUNTRY IN FOCUS
ZIMBABWE:
RIPE FOR
ILLEGAL MINING
PART 2
Despite challenges, there are opportunities in Zimbabwe, writes
Nicolaas C Steenkamp.
A
lthough Zimbabwe is extremely rich in minerals,
gold and platinum remains the mainstay of
mined commodities. Several greenstone gold
areas are scattered throughout the Zimbabwean
craton that covers most of the country surface.
Small scale gold mines flourished during the pioneering days
of the then Southern Rhodesia and later Republic of Rhodesia.
However, these operations experienced tough times during
the depression years early in the 20th century and in the 1970s
during the war of liberation. Small-scale mining of gold all but
stopped in the last two decades, although some companies are
still actively re-processing old dump material.
Some mines like Cam-and-Motor, Pickstone Peerless and
Eureka, have periodically been revived, but as the economic
situation in the country deteriorates, abandoned gold mines
have turned into a hotspot of illegal mining activities. The
operating mines are also forced to sell to the Fidelity Printers
www. africanmining.co.za
African Mining Publication
The platinum group minerals are found in the Great Dyke that
bisects the country from north to south. Coal deposits are found
along the southern and western borders of the country. There
are also some diamond occurrences that are exploited.
Informal gold workings in the Northern Greenstone Belt (Magondi) in
Zimbabwe.
African Mining
African Mining October 2019
21