By Kwedu News
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has bemoaned illegal night chrome mining which has become a “new cancer” in mining.
Speaking during a recent annual general meeting by the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, ZMF president Henrietta Rushwaya said those involved in these activities should stop or risk being named and shamed, as they are a threat to small scale miners.
“We as small-scale miners, continue to carry the label of illegal miners while those sophisticated syndicates run operations on our claims at night.
“These are not just illegal miners, they are criminal entrepreneurs exploiting the system, undermining our livelihoods and destabilising our mining communities,” she said.
“They operate with impunity, bringing trucks and excavators after sundown. By dawn, major damage would have already been done overnight.”
She also said ZMF thinks public shaming will act as a way to stop these illegal activities and ensure the law is enforced.
“We are making a clarion call to the minister to allow us to name and shame those illegal miners, who have overtaken us, stolen our identity and caused a lot of land degradation,” Rushwaya said.
