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Walter Mswazie in Zvishavane
PLATINUM giant Mimosa mine is supporting small-scale mining activities within its vicinity through the provision of equipment and training in safety issues, a senior official has said.

Responding to questions from members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining at the mine on Tuesday, head corporate affairs, Mrs Elizabeth Nerwande, said apart from assisting the community in infrastructural development, the company was supporting small-scale mining.

The members were shown a video of the company’s social corporate responsibility work.

“We are doing a lot in the community including assisting small scale miners around us,” said Mrs Nerwande.

“We have bought vehicles and other machinery for an association of artisanal miners to use as a company.”

Mrs Nerwande said small-scale miners were taken through induction on a number of key aspects in formal mining so that they could also improve on their operations.

“We sometimes take them for workshops, training them on how to conserve environment, reclaim gullies and other important aspects in mining,” she said. “The artisanal miners are also provided with some technical skills by our skilled personnel on how they can increase their production, as well as on safety issues needed in extraction industry and we are happy there is a marked improvement in the way they operate.

“We are doing this as part of our corporate social responsibility and when they present grievances, the company assists them. We are doing this to co-exist and empower them into formal mining players and it seems our efforts are paying a lot of dividends.”

Speaking at the same occasion, the firm’s general manager, Mr Alex Mushonhiwa, said the company had a “water tight” environmental and safety policy and were assisting small-scale miners to adopt it.

“We have a clear policy which should strictly be adhered to by anyone who comes to our premises,” he said.

“That is the reason why every visitor is taken through an induction when he comes here . Likewise, we encourage our small-scale miners around us to embrace similar policies.

“Periodically, our mines and its environs is assessed by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) so that we remain in sync with their laws on environment, as well as maintaining total safety.”

Parliamentary committee member and Kwekwe Central National Assembly member, Mr Masango Matambanadzo, hailed Mimosa for assisting artisanal miners as they made immense contribution to the national economy through gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers Refiners.

“We are happy that you are helping us,” he said. “I am saying us because I am also a gold miner myself.

I challenge other established mines to do the same since artisanal miners contribute more than 60 percent of gold to government through Fidelity Printers and Refiners.”