"We do not know why there are no investors in the gold sector in Chimanimani. Panners are making brisk business as a result. Artisanal mining has become a cancer, and the impact on the environment is unprecedented. It is quite serious, the land is full of dongas," he said.
Artisanal mining in Chimanimani remains a primitive, non-mechanised enterprise, involving little more than hand-digging of river-bank mud, sand or gravel (alluvium), which are then sifted, or panned using hand-held sieves.
Artisanal mining in Chimanimani remains a primitive, non-mechanised enterprise, involving little more than hand-digging of river-bank mud, sand or gravel (alluvium), which are then sifted, or panned using hand-held sieves.
The illegal mining is also taking an environmental toll, clogging the Rusitu River with silt, harming fragile ecosystems, damaging farming irrigation systems and contaminating drinking water. Added to the problem, is that artisanal gold miners in the region use cyanide and mercury to separate panned gold from ore, flushing these toxins into the rivers.
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