2019 Top 10 Mining Stories.

By Moses Charedzera.

2019 was an eventful year in the mining sector which witnessed a lot of developments, some negative and others positive. As the year ends and a new one beckons, we give you an annual roundup of top ten headline stories of 2019.

1. In February 26 artisanal miners perished in the Battlefields disaster while 8 died in an underground mine explosion at Jumbo Mine in Mazowe in May.
2. ZCDC fired seven top executives including CEO Morris Mpofu in June following reports of rampant corruption and abuse of office.
3. On the 14^th of October government launched the roadmap for the achievement of the US 12 billion mining sector contribution to the economy by 2023.
4. In June ,Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube removed the multi-currency regime which had been in place since February 2009 in an effort to enhance the affordability of goods and services by the majority.
5. In November ,the Supreme Court declared Henrietta Rushwaya as the President of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation after a grouping of miners had challenged the process that led to her election to the helm of the miners’ body.
6. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced in July the scrapping of the indigenisation policy which limited foreign investment in the diamond and platinum sectors to 49 percent for foreigners.
7. Gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refiners plummeted this year after miners complained of the 55/45 forex retention ratio.
8. Unki Mine commissioned a $ 62 million dollar smelter in May as part of its beneficiation and value addition thrust.
9. Police this month said they had arrested over 1 500 illegal gold panners and 3 471 people found in possession of machetes and other objects considered to be dangerous. This was after violent artisanal miners notoriously called MaShurugwi went on the rampage across the country, killing people and robbing them of their valuables.
10. FC Platinum, a team with links to Mimosa lifted the Castle Lager Premier Soccer league for the third consecutive time, becoming the first team outside Harare and Bulawayo to do so in the top flight league.