New gold rush in Zaka

Dozens of illegal small scale miners including school children are now working in the Dzoro area of Zaka West Ward 30 under Chief Bota where gold was recently discovered by a group of prospectors.

The first rush in the area was reported in May 2016 but mining activities did not become as widespread as they now seem to have become.
Many of the people working in the area admitted to TellZim News that they did not have documents allowing them to mine but they nonetheless were doing it for the sake of survival.

They said the area was rich in the precious stone which they say was fetching as much as US$60 per gram on the informal market.

“We are delighted to work on virgin mining land which promises to be very rich in gold. I come from one of the surrounding villages but we now have people travelling from as far away as Chiredzi to try their luck. The police and some people from Zaka Rural District Council do harass us at times but we cannot give up,” said one miner.

Others said they feared the area could soon be crime-ridden as more miners from faraway places flock in to dig.

“We have started well but many other places that were lucrative ended up being hotspots of brutal wars as was recently witnessed by the conduct of MaShurugwi in other parts of the country. We hope people will remain civil and respect each other but that is hard because we are not licenced,” said another miner, adding that he feared the police would launch a serious crackdown if miners began to fight each other.

Zaka district is rich in alluvial and other forms of gold deposits though it remains unclear whether the deposits warrant large scale investment.

There is, however, talk that the underground gold belt emanating from Rio Zim’s Renco Mine in the nearby Masvingo district extends deep into Zaka.

Meanwhile, all the mining being
done in the various areas of the district is being conducted by either
registered or illegal small scale miners use basic tools yet cause severe
environmental degradation.