Mhondoro-Mubaira villagers face relocation Mega mining project to create 90k jobs

SOME villagers in Mhondoro-Mubaira are set to be relocated to other areas to make way for mining activities being undertaken by mining giant Karo Resources Platinum.

The mega mining project, which was recently commissioned by President Mnangagwa, will sit on about 23 900 hectares of land, with an investment of about $4,2 billion.

Assessment of the number of villagers to be affected and consultations on where they will be relocated are underway.

Authorities at the firm have assured villagers and other stakeholders that the relocation would be done in full compliance with international standards and the country’s statutes.

Karo Resources country manager Mr Josphat Zimba said there would not be forced evictions, but villagers would be fully compensated after consultations.

“There are certain communities that reside in this area and part of the studies we are doing now, the Environmental Impact Assessment plan, is to be able to identify the footprint of these communities and who resides where,” he said.

“How big is their properties? What do they have so that we have got a holistic idea of what the community in this area looks like.

“Already, we are working with Ministries of Local Government (Public Works and National Housing) and Lands (Agriculture and Rural Resettlement) to try and identify the people to be relocated, where they will go and how best this could be done.

“We are absolutely sensitive to that and there is nobody from this area who will be short-changed for the sake of the mining activities.

“It would be done in a humane way, in a proper and professional way and according to international best practices.”

Karo Resources director Shawn MacCormick recently said the relocation exercise would fully abide by Zimbabwean laws to ensure that the community benefits from the investment.

“The Government also has very clear laws and regulations on this front already set by the international standards and based on the experience we have as a group, we will make sure that we will abide by and exceed those standards, as well as in terms of what we do now and later,” he said.

“We often think about what we would want done to us if we were in that situation. So, when we put it in the human perspective, it allows us to engage more with the communities that are impacted.”

As part of the investment, Karo Resources is expected to generate 300 megawatts of solar energy, part of which will feed into the national grid, as well as building a world-class mining complex with a platinum refinery.

The refinery will have concentration, smelting and refining capabilities, including a base metal and precious metal refineries.

The project is expected to create a combined 90 000 jobs - 15 000 direct ones from employment by the mine, while 75 000 will be created through secondary and tertiary industries when the project reaches its peak by 2023.