Zimbabwe court nullifies Chinese mine conviction, sentence

The High Court of Zimbabwe has overturned the conviction of a Chinese-owned mining company that had been found guilty of stealing more than 4 000 tonnes of gold ore and ordered to pay nearly US$900 000 in restitution.

Mutoko regional magistrate Chiedza Gatsi had convicted Reajin Mine of theft and ordered it to restitute local miner Emmanuel Ndemera US$875 667. The mine was also fined US$3 000 and directed to return the gold dump to Ndemera.

Ndemera had accused the company of encroaching onto his mining territory and unlawfully extracting gold ore.

However, Reajin Mine, represented by Tendai Rusinahama of Rusinahama-Rabvukwa Attorneys, appealed both the conviction and sentence, arguing that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it had stolen the alleged 4 174,60 tonnes of gold ore.

In a ruling delivered recently, High Court judges Justice Moses Foroma and Justice Pisirayi Kwenda allowed the appeal and acquitted the mine.

"Whereupon, after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that the appeal be and is hereby allowed. The conviction is quashed and the sentence is set aside," the judges ruled.

In its grounds of appeal, Reajin Mine argued that the lower court had misdirected itself in concluding that the company benefited from over 15 000 grammes of gold allegedly derived from the disputed ore.

"The court a quo grossly erred and misdirected itself in concluding that the State proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant had stolen 4 174,60 tonnes of gold ore from the complainant solely on the basis of an impugned survey and evaluation report whose samples were taken from the exposed reef that remained in the alleged encroached portion of the mine and not the alleged residue from the alleged encroached area," part of the appeal read.

The mine further argued that even if ore had been removed, the prosecution failed to prove that the 4 174,60 tonnes yielded 15 783,48 grammes of pure gold as alleged.

It also contended that its witnesses were unfairly dismissed by the lower court, maintaining that no gold ore belonging to the complainant had been unlawfully or intentionally taken. The defence argued that the area in question was still under development at the time the alleged encroachment was raised.

In their determination, the High Court judges held that the State had failed to prove the theft charges against Reajin Mine beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the acquittal and setting aside of both conviction and sentence.