Redwing: Gold mine or hell on earth?
REDWING Mine, once celebrated as Zimbabwe’s jewel in gold wealth, now bears the weight of a tarnished legacy. The mine, boasting some of the richest gold deposits in the country, has become synonymous with tragedies due to safety lapses.
Since the official closure of the main underground mine in 2015, the surrounding gold claims become a haven for illegal artisanal miners. Armed with rudimentary tools, their activities are not subjected to proper mining regulations and safety protocols by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
Operating in the periphery of a once-booming underground gold mine, the artisanal miners operate in abandoned shafts and unstable tunnels, gambling their lives.
Last week, a mine shaft collapsed, trapping 15 miners deep underground. Initial investigations suggest an earth tremor. However, both official and independent observers have raised concerns about a potential weakening of the ground due to the digging of the supporting pillars from previous workings by a Germany company.
While the observers have drawn a correlation between the shaft collapse and others in mines previously owned by German firms, the cause of this specific incident remains under investigation, Mines and Mining Development Minister Zhemu Soda said.
Fear and uncertainty gripped the families and the community as rescue efforts began.
For four days, hope dwindled with each passing hour. But in a remarkable turn of events, all 15 miners were brought to the surface breathing. While the miners’ survival is a cause for celebration, the incident has reignited calls for stricter regulations and improved safety measures to prevent similar incidences in future.
“The most disturbing thing is that some of the tragedies go unreported,” a security officer at the mine told Business Weekly.
“Just last week, an artisanal miner was killed, broken into three pieces. While this incident’s magnitude may have attracted the attention of many, similar incidences are happening more often.”
Operations complexities
According to the miners, the complexities around the operations of the mine have made it difficult to enforcing regulations and holding anyone accountable for safety lapses.
Metallon, a UK registered mining firm owns Redwing, alongside other gold assets — How Mine, Shamva Mine and Mazowe Mine. It has leased out some of its mining land to Betterbrands, a firm owned by prominent gold dealer, Scott Sakupwanya.
But Betterbrands is not directly involved in mining itself, but contracts individuals who then sponsor artisanal miners to carry out mining activities. The similar arrangement is also used by Metallon. The situation makes it challenging to guarantee both safety protocol adherence and environmental protection. Responsibility for safety protocols, environmental regulations and even basic oversight becomes blurred, leaving a gaping hole where accountability should stand.
“With oversight diluted and accountability fragmented, artisanal miners are left working in very dangerous conditions, often with minimal equipment and training, vulnerable to tragedies that may go unreported,” an official with Betterbrands said. The plight of the artisanal miners underscores the complex of artisanal mining, where the desperate hope for a better life intertwines with a deadly dance with danger.“It’s episode after episode of horror but at the end of the day, we need to survive; we do have families to take care of so we are left with no option,” Terence Tsakani (not his real name) told Business Weekly. “Everything here is haphazard.
“Our sponsors are not worried about our safety neither the environmental damage that we are causing but only their profits.” Tsakani works with a group of five men.
After mining out the ore, they take it to the mill where the mineral is extracted from the ore. The sponsors get 50 percent of the total gold value and pay the artisanal miners.
Playing with fire
In response to the recent incident at Redwing, Minister Soda directed a provincial mining team to conduct a thorough review of their mining methods and provide recommendations to prevent future incidences.
“I am yet to get that report but obviously we will come up with measures informed by the report,” he said.
“But we have also discovered that some miners are being allocated land with old workings underneath. So, they drill to gain access to the old workings…extract the pillars that are supporting the ground. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.
“We have seen similar incidences at other mines previously operated by German companies.”
Metallon and Bettebrands could not be reached despite repeated attempts to contact them.
Business Weekly also reached out to the Environmental Management Authority for comment on environmental concerns, but received no response after multiple attempts.
Redwing is a wholly owned subsidiary of Metallon, a private company that owns a vast portfolio of mineral assets in Zimbabwe consisting of four mining properties.
In October 2002, Metallon acquired a portfolio of mineral assets from a holding subsidiary of Lonmin plc, also known as Independence Mining. Redwing is located in Penhalonga, some 20 km north-northeast of Mutare, Manicaland Province.
According to a Competent Persons’ Report prepared in April 2020 by Golder Associates based in Australia, the mineral resource contains approximately 2,63 million ounces.
In 2020, South African geoscience firm RVN Group valued Redwing’s mineral and property assets at US$30 million.
Revival hopes still alive
Redwing was placed under corporate rescue in July 2020 because it was is financially distressed.
Former rescue practitioner, Knowledge Hofisi, left before the rescue plan was approved.
The first option of the plan proposes a quick restart with minimal upfront investment, leveraging on existing infrastructure, requiring periodic upgrades. This approach boasts a long lifespan exceeding 70 years but delivers a lower profit.
The mine will adopt this option initially, transitioning to option three within five years.
The option two demands hefty upfront investment but promises the highest profit.
However, its lower internal rate of return indicates greater risk. The ore body can also not sustain the targeted production level due to logistical and strategic limitations.
Then option three strikes a balance between investment and return. It requires moderate upfront spending, delivers strong profit, and offers an acceptable return on investment.
This option aligns with operational and strategic goals, making it the preferred longterm solution.
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