Opinion / Columnist
Environmental crisis looms at Vumbachikwe... amid concern over management's non compliance
4 hrs ago | Views
ENVIRONMENTAL crisis is reportedly looming at Vumbachikwe mine in Gwanda after the management set up an allegedly substandard elution processing facilities wrapped around by a sail above ground surface, amid fears if it gets torn the cyanide used to separate gold from ore may spill into the open environment and possibly pose serious life danger to humans and domestic animals.
The gold elution process is a method for extracting gold from ore using desorption and electrowinning.
The process involves the sending gold-loaded carbon to the carbon storage tank and feeding it into the desorption column, adding solid sodium hydroxide to the desorption solution and heating and agitating it, and cycling the slurry through the desorption column, electric heaters, filter, electrolysis tank, and circulating pump.
Vumbachikwe mine spokesperson Robert Mukondiwa on November 24 through the state media revealed that the mine recently commissioned the small-scale project which he said marks a return to production for the mine.
The small-scale project will see the company collecting gold ore mostly drawn from artisanal miners.
Investigations done have established the Vumbachikwe mining community is not impressed by what the management is doing compared to what the mine had been during its good times when it employed around 1000 workers where it would produce 300 tons of gold ore.
"The situation now is very sad compared to how it was before its closure on November 8, 2022. The mine has not been operating since then and up to now they have put 2 x 10 Beat Hammer mills, one Jaw crusher, they have built about two or so Leaching tanks and installed small tanks for carbon," said the source.
"They have since started feeding the gold ore into the leaching tanks where they then pour water and chemicals such as cyanide which turns gold into liquid and separate it from ore. Looking at where they situated the leaching tanks, the site is not safe for the people and domestic animals. Animals are used to getting into that place and this is very dangerous. I do not understand who approved that those taken should be constructed on that site."
The source also said the elution facilities looks substandard and has high chances of spilling chemicals into the environment thereby posing a catastrophic risk to human and domestic life.
"There is an old site where they used to do this and we even do not know why they did not revert to it, because it is safer than the new one," said the source.
"They are now busy putting ore into the tanks and they get that ore from illegal gold panners who dig around Vumbachikwe area, most of whom come from Gwanda town area and the surrounding areas. Just imagine a big mine that used to produce 300 tons of gold ore per day now having to deal with only 5 tons per day gotten from gold panners, it's pathetic."
A source who once worked at the mine indicated sometime ago there was a time when the handling of cyanide was not allowed across the milling site, after a scenario where there was leakage which caused the death of cattle leading to the suspension of the manager.
"There were questions as to where the leakage was from and it was from the old plant where cyanide was not allowed, so the manager was suspended. I heard that they were now constructing tanks where it was previously not allowed to handle cyanide," said the source.
"I asked myself did these guys know that when we were working there it was no longer allowed to handle cyanide across the milling site, especially to the environment. There was a designated area for the use of cyanide only. So I do not know how they are doing it now or the guys who are on the ground do not know what was set up there before, they are all new faces only."
The source said the current setup does not show how they are going to discard the solution with cyanide.
"I wonder where they will discard the cyanide contaminated solution," said the former worker.
Another source who once worked the mine said most of the 1000 workers who were employed by the company are living a miserable life, with some of them having their families broken as a result since the closure of the mine.
"Only 100 or so workers have remained being used by the management and are paid a paltry US$100 which at some point does not come on time. All the workers are still owed huge sums of money back dated to even before the company closure in 2022," the source said.
"Just recently the management called a funny workers meeting where they promised to pay workers outstanding dues and they just called a few workers to create an impression that the workers have agreed to them settling their dues in order to start working since they purport to have started operations."
Indications are that workers questioned them as to where they got the guts to call a meeting over a case that is pending in the courts, which is yet to be determined since the issue of the company owing many creditors is pending in court.
The source said people were promised that their money would be paid soon but now it's over a week after the promise was made but still there is nothing.
Indications are that only 350 workers out of the close to 1000 who are owed attended the meeting.
Matabeleland South Environmental Management Agency Provincial Manager Decent Ndlovu was not rearchable for comment.
Matabeleland South Acting Provincial Mining director Mr Ndlovu could not be reached for comment.
But indications are that after hearing rumours of the unclear set up of the learching tanks construction, the ministry has deployed inspectors to the mine to probe the allegations on the ground.
The developments come at a time when Creditors at Forbes and Thomson Private Limited, in Gwanda, Matabeleland South popularly known as Vumbachikwe mine are still fighting a legal battle to recover their money while the company has sought corporate rescue through the courts.
Corporate Rescue is a method where a judge orders for the management of a company to be taken away from incompetent managers and given to a professional manager called a corporate rescuer.
The corporate rescuer then tries to save the business.
Vumbachikwe mine closed on November 8, 2022, after workers downed tools over outstanding salaries and poor working conditions, among other issues.
Indications are that creditors and staff are owed in access of US$10m, ZESA is owed in access of $1m, while ZIMRA was owed over $2.5m according to court documents.
A report done by the South African forensic company, Forfar Forensics recently stated that the situation at the mine paints a gloomy picture for workers who hoped for a return to good times.
Indications are that the workers are still concerned over what they termed bad management of the gold mine run by Allan Dolan coupled with a lot of false promises to them.
On November 24, through the state weekly newspaper, Mukondiwa said after the senselessness and barbarism that occurred two years ago, on 8 November which resulted in the mine closing down and the clinic being shut down after vandalism, things were shaping up to restore the situation to normalcy very soon.
He said following the commissioning of the Vubachikwe Mine small-scale project that marks a return to production for the mine, management moved further, rehabilitated the mine clinic and soon shall open its doors to patients.
"It is true that the mine will see the clinic return to full operation once a few things are sorted in the coming week or so and it will be all systems go," Mukondiwa told the state media.
"While operations have not totally ceased as the sister at the mine was still ensuring that those with chronic conditions kept getting attention during the closure, the mine clinic was inevitably closed because of the destructive illegal strike."
The gold elution process is a method for extracting gold from ore using desorption and electrowinning.
The process involves the sending gold-loaded carbon to the carbon storage tank and feeding it into the desorption column, adding solid sodium hydroxide to the desorption solution and heating and agitating it, and cycling the slurry through the desorption column, electric heaters, filter, electrolysis tank, and circulating pump.
Vumbachikwe mine spokesperson Robert Mukondiwa on November 24 through the state media revealed that the mine recently commissioned the small-scale project which he said marks a return to production for the mine.
The small-scale project will see the company collecting gold ore mostly drawn from artisanal miners.
Investigations done have established the Vumbachikwe mining community is not impressed by what the management is doing compared to what the mine had been during its good times when it employed around 1000 workers where it would produce 300 tons of gold ore.
"The situation now is very sad compared to how it was before its closure on November 8, 2022. The mine has not been operating since then and up to now they have put 2 x 10 Beat Hammer mills, one Jaw crusher, they have built about two or so Leaching tanks and installed small tanks for carbon," said the source.
"They have since started feeding the gold ore into the leaching tanks where they then pour water and chemicals such as cyanide which turns gold into liquid and separate it from ore. Looking at where they situated the leaching tanks, the site is not safe for the people and domestic animals. Animals are used to getting into that place and this is very dangerous. I do not understand who approved that those taken should be constructed on that site."
The source also said the elution facilities looks substandard and has high chances of spilling chemicals into the environment thereby posing a catastrophic risk to human and domestic life.
"There is an old site where they used to do this and we even do not know why they did not revert to it, because it is safer than the new one," said the source.
"They are now busy putting ore into the tanks and they get that ore from illegal gold panners who dig around Vumbachikwe area, most of whom come from Gwanda town area and the surrounding areas. Just imagine a big mine that used to produce 300 tons of gold ore per day now having to deal with only 5 tons per day gotten from gold panners, it's pathetic."
A source who once worked at the mine indicated sometime ago there was a time when the handling of cyanide was not allowed across the milling site, after a scenario where there was leakage which caused the death of cattle leading to the suspension of the manager.
"There were questions as to where the leakage was from and it was from the old plant where cyanide was not allowed, so the manager was suspended. I heard that they were now constructing tanks where it was previously not allowed to handle cyanide," said the source.
"I asked myself did these guys know that when we were working there it was no longer allowed to handle cyanide across the milling site, especially to the environment. There was a designated area for the use of cyanide only. So I do not know how they are doing it now or the guys who are on the ground do not know what was set up there before, they are all new faces only."
The source said the current setup does not show how they are going to discard the solution with cyanide.
"I wonder where they will discard the cyanide contaminated solution," said the former worker.
Another source who once worked the mine said most of the 1000 workers who were employed by the company are living a miserable life, with some of them having their families broken as a result since the closure of the mine.
"Only 100 or so workers have remained being used by the management and are paid a paltry US$100 which at some point does not come on time. All the workers are still owed huge sums of money back dated to even before the company closure in 2022," the source said.
"Just recently the management called a funny workers meeting where they promised to pay workers outstanding dues and they just called a few workers to create an impression that the workers have agreed to them settling their dues in order to start working since they purport to have started operations."
Indications are that workers questioned them as to where they got the guts to call a meeting over a case that is pending in the courts, which is yet to be determined since the issue of the company owing many creditors is pending in court.
The source said people were promised that their money would be paid soon but now it's over a week after the promise was made but still there is nothing.
Indications are that only 350 workers out of the close to 1000 who are owed attended the meeting.
Matabeleland South Environmental Management Agency Provincial Manager Decent Ndlovu was not rearchable for comment.
Matabeleland South Acting Provincial Mining director Mr Ndlovu could not be reached for comment.
But indications are that after hearing rumours of the unclear set up of the learching tanks construction, the ministry has deployed inspectors to the mine to probe the allegations on the ground.
The developments come at a time when Creditors at Forbes and Thomson Private Limited, in Gwanda, Matabeleland South popularly known as Vumbachikwe mine are still fighting a legal battle to recover their money while the company has sought corporate rescue through the courts.
Corporate Rescue is a method where a judge orders for the management of a company to be taken away from incompetent managers and given to a professional manager called a corporate rescuer.
The corporate rescuer then tries to save the business.
Vumbachikwe mine closed on November 8, 2022, after workers downed tools over outstanding salaries and poor working conditions, among other issues.
Indications are that creditors and staff are owed in access of US$10m, ZESA is owed in access of $1m, while ZIMRA was owed over $2.5m according to court documents.
A report done by the South African forensic company, Forfar Forensics recently stated that the situation at the mine paints a gloomy picture for workers who hoped for a return to good times.
Indications are that the workers are still concerned over what they termed bad management of the gold mine run by Allan Dolan coupled with a lot of false promises to them.
On November 24, through the state weekly newspaper, Mukondiwa said after the senselessness and barbarism that occurred two years ago, on 8 November which resulted in the mine closing down and the clinic being shut down after vandalism, things were shaping up to restore the situation to normalcy very soon.
He said following the commissioning of the Vubachikwe Mine small-scale project that marks a return to production for the mine, management moved further, rehabilitated the mine clinic and soon shall open its doors to patients.
"It is true that the mine will see the clinic return to full operation once a few things are sorted in the coming week or so and it will be all systems go," Mukondiwa told the state media.
"While operations have not totally ceased as the sister at the mine was still ensuring that those with chronic conditions kept getting attention during the closure, the mine clinic was inevitably closed because of the destructive illegal strike."
Source - Byo24News
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