Abstract
Artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) has devastating impacts on the environment, such as deforestation, over-stripping of overburden, burning of bushes and use of harmful chemicals like mercury. These environmental impacts are a result of destructive mining, wasteful mineral extraction and processing practices and techniques used by the artisanal small-scale miners. This paper explores the ecological problems caused by ASM in Mzingwane District, Zimbabwe. It seeks to determine the nature and extent to which the environment has been damaged by the ASM from a community perspective. Interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to collect qualitative data. Results indicated that the nature of the mining activities undertaken by unskilled and under-equipped gold panners in Mzingwane District is characterised by massive stripping of overburden and burning of bushes, leading to destruction of large tracts of land and river systems and general ecosystem disturbance. The research concluded that ASM in Mzingwane District is an ecological time bomb, stressing the need for appropriate modifications of the legal and institutional frameworks for promoting sustainable use of natural resources and mining development in Zimbabwe. Government, through the Ministry of Small Scale and Medium Enterprises, need to regularise and formalise all gold mining activities through licensing, giving permanent claims and operating permits to panners in order to recoup some of the added costs in the form of taxes. At the local level, the Mzingwane Rural District Council (MRDC) together with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) need to design appropriate environmental education and awareness programmes targeting the local community and gold panners.
Highlights
Mineral extraction is the most destructive industry to the environment (Chenje 2000), and artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) contributes to this destruction
Key informant interviews were held with nine heads of departments. These included the heads of departments in local government, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (MMMD), the Mzingwane Rural District Council (MRDC), Bulawayo City Council (BCC), ZINWA, National Parks and Wildlife (NPW) and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA)
In light of the foregoing discussion, it is evident that Artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) in Mzingwane District poses a serious threat to the ecology, which in turn jeopardises human lives and livelihoods
Summary
Mineral extraction is the most destructive industry to the environment (Chenje 2000), and artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) contributes to this destruction. This paper defines ASM as an activity that encompasses small, medium, informal, legal and illegal miners who use rudimentary methods and processes to extract mineral resources. These miners are unskilled, lack knowledge and have little appreciation of the environment (Veiga & Hinton 2002). Artisanal mining has received a boost in Zimbabwe in the last decade because of new government policies, through the Ministry of Small Scale and Medium Enterprises, that promote small-scale mining as miners are encouraged to peg claims and operate legally Such policies have overlooked key issues, such as equipping and training small-scale miners in a bid to help minimise the adverse impacts on the environment
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