Story by Mercy Bofu-Matinha
THE mining sector has been urged to adopt responsible mining practices, comply with national environmental laws, and contribute to sustainable environmental management as the country seeks to balance economic growth with environmental protection.
Empress Gold Mine, situated in Mashava, has been proactive in this regard, having started operations in 2021 and since invested in land rehabilitation initiatives to mitigate environmental impact.
These include backfilling of mined-out pits, revegetation programmes and the construction of a slime dam to safely manage mining waste.
Out of the 80 hectares that have been mined out so far, 40 % have already been rehabilitated.
“We started operations here in 2021, and we have 160 hectares. In our operations, we aim to leave no environmental damage behind, hence these rehabilitation efforts. We have been working with the responsible authority in our rehabilitation efforts, and our aim is to rehabilitate all the mined-out areas,” Empress Mine Director, Mr Zhang Jiu Long said.
The mine manager, Mr Richman Zvabvirepi, says environmental stewardship is a key pillar of the company’s operations, adding that rehabilitation is carried out concurrently with mining to minimise environmental degradation and ensure long-term sustainability.
“With the new plant we established here, we are established. Empress processing 1000 tonnes eve of Mine began major rehabilitation works in 2021 and now processes 1 000 tonnes per day. Hence, we are committed to ensuring economic development does not come at the expense of the environment. We do not want to leave environmental harm to communities, the flora or fauna,” he said.
Recently, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) organised a media tour of Empress Gold Mine as part of its efforts to promote responsible mining and ensure compliance with national environmental laws and standards.
The tour allowed journalists to appreciate mine rehabilitation processes, waste management systems and the treatment of mine water effluent before discharge into the environment.
“When mining operations are not properly regulated or monitored, they can cause severe land degradation, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and long-term environmental damage. Under the NDS1 and the upcoming NDS2, the Environmental Management Agency has and will be focusing on ensuring that our mining sector adopts responsible mining, complies with national environmental laws and standards and adopts best practices. This tour to Empress Mine is also part of the Agency’s broader efforts to strengthen environmental accountability within the mining sector,” EMA Masvingo Provincial Manager, Mr Milton Muusha said.
The mining sector remains a fundamental pillar of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic development, hence the importance of continuous monitoring of mining activities to prevent land degradation, environmental pollution and long-term ecological damage.
