US$2 million gold looted from Mutare river

An estimated US$2 million worth of gold has reportedly been looted from the Mutare River in Penhalonga over the past few months, with politically-connected cartels allegedly defying both court orders and environmental regulations to carry out rampant riverbed mining.

According to a confidential investigation by the Centre for Research and Development (CRD), the gold rush at Penhalonga represents "a systematic criminal enterprise" sustained by political protection and state capture within Zimbabwe's gold sector.

The 20-page dossier, seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, claims that between May 15 and July 10, around 18 kilogrammes of gold - valued at approximately US$1,9 million - were extracted from a 5 000-square-metre stretch of the Mutare River during what the watchdog described as "56 days of chaos."

The looting spree reportedly unfolded near the Penhalonga Low Residential Area after word spread of high-grade ore deposits in the riverbed. Within days, the area was overrun by nearly 1 000 artisanal miners, smugglers, vendors and political sponsors, transforming it into a "lawless pillage hotspot."

Efforts to obtain comment from Mines and Mining Development Permanent Secretary Pfungwa Kunaka were unsuccessful.

CRD alleges the operation was controlled by a politically-connected company whose owner, described as one of Zimbabwe's wealthiest individuals, has been implicated in previous environmental violations in Manicaland Province.

The watchdog claims the company's arrival attracted state security agents, gold millers, and informal syndicates, including one known locally as Boys Dzamudhara ("the old man's boys"). Officials deployed to restore order allegedly joined the smuggling networks instead.

The Environmental Management Agency (Ema) eventually issued a stop order under Statutory Instrument 188 of 2024, which bans riverbed mining. The directive followed sustained pressure from residents and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who had already secured a High Court ruling against mining in the Rezende section of the river.

However, CRD says the politically-connected company ignored both the Ema order and the earlier court judgment.

"Calculations made by mining experts based on information gathered by CRD indicated approximately 18 kilogrammes of gold worth US$1,925 million were lost to illegal mining syndicates under the company's control," the report reads.

Investigators interviewed small-scale miners who admitted extracting around 28 000 bags of ore - averaging 500 bags daily from 25 pits - during the rush. The miners said they surrendered a small portion of the ore to the controlling company and smuggled the rest to illegal hammer mills and cyanide leaching tanks scattered along the riverbanks.

"These makeshift mills, some built directly on the water's edge, provided easy concealment and transport," CRD noted, adding that the extracted gold feeds into a thriving black market network that bypasses Fidelity Gold Refiners (FGR), the state's official buyer.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling overturning a corporate rescue arrangement that had handed Redwing Mine to the same politically-connected firm, the company has allegedly continued operations - shielded by shifting government directives and political immunity.

A ministry eviction notice issued in August 2024 was reportedly reversed less than a year later, through a letter dated July 11, 2025 - just days after police enforced a temporary ban on the island.

"One senior mining official told investigators, ‘The company has immunity. No one can touch them,'" the report claims.

Redwing Mine, which sits within the affected gold fields, was recently taken over by a foreign investor in a deal worth about US$300 million.

Economists warn that the revelations point to entrenched state capture in Zimbabwe's gold sector, one of the country's key foreign currency earners. They estimate that over US$1,5 billion worth of gold is smuggled out of Zimbabwe each year, mainly to Dubai and South Africa, depriving Treasury of critical revenue.

"The Penhalonga case is not an isolated incident," one Harare-based economic analyst said. "It illustrates how corruption and political complicity continue to undermine formal mining, erode public trust, and drain national wealth."

As authorities remain silent and operations reportedly continue, Penhalonga stands as both a symbol and a warning - of a gold rush that rewards impunity more than enterprise.