Zinwa resumes water production at Dande River
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has resumed water production from Dande River following cyanide spillage in late April.
Zinwa head for communication and marketing, Marjorie Munyonga, confirmed the developments in a written statement to NewsDay recently.
‘‘I can confirm that water production at Guruve water supply has resumed. This followed rigorous tests of the raw water, which concluded that the water was safe and had no traces of contamination,” Munyonga said.
She further indicated that Zinwa will, however, continue to closely monitor the situation in Guruve.
“This will include strict physical and laboratory monitoring of the concerned mine’s site of discharge to minimise the risk of contamination,” Munyonga said.
Suspected cyanide spillage from the Eureka Gold Mine near Guruve business centre had affected several businesses, farmers and surrounding communities.
Eureka mine is under Dallaglio Investments. Zinwa had stopped pumping water after the cyanide spillage.
The dam is a source of drinking water for businesspeople, farmers, domestic animals and surrounding villages.
The affected villages were in wards 2, 4, 5, 6 and 18 within Guruve North, Mashonaland Central province.
Th Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights wrote a letter of demand addressed to the mine on behalf of Guruve residents following the cyanide spillage.
In a response dated May 6, 2024 titled, Letter of Demand — Letios Karembera and Eureka Gold Mine, the mine chief executive James Beare confirmed the poisoning of the water.
‘‘The spillage was approximately 120 cubic metres of water with traces of cyanide as the water had already been treated. In addition, our employees quickly applied neutralising agents to the effluent to weaken the cyanide per protocol. Various lab tests show that as a result, the levels of cyanide in the water were not very high,” he said.
Beare said the mine, working with Zinwa, Environmental Management Agency and the Civil Protection Department moved to ensure that residents were provided with clean water pending lab tests.