'Baron' denies allegations

Following vicious clashes amongst gold panners in Insiza and Esigodini over gold claims, an alleged gold baron who is said to be terrorising other miners has refuted such claims and allegations of operating illegally.

Mr Byron Dube who hit the headlines recently for the wrong reasons after he was allegedly said to have unleashed terror on some highly productive gold mining claims, reportedly wrestling them from locals, says his operations are above board and he sells his gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners.

Reporters caught up with Mr Dube, a gold miner with operation in Umzingwane, Insiza and Inyathi to get an understanding of his mining business.

He said he mainly targets gold rush areas where he quickly seeks authority to mine.

Mr Dube challenged other miners to speedily approach the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to get legal authority whenever there is a gold rush and to stop crying about his business approach.

Dube says the problem with most small scale miners is that they appear to shy away from getting legal authority to mine but spend the rest of their time evading law enforcement agents.

Bloody wars over control of high-yielding gold claims were reported in Insiza last week leading to the death of one gold panner who was attacked during a mining dispute.