Staff Reporter
One of the country’s leading mining entity, Kuvimba Mining House (KMH) recently launched a sustainability campaign in line with the company’s commitment to preserving the environment and protecting local communities.
KMH chief executive Trevor Barnard said the sustainability campaign, running under the theme ‘Restoring Nature, Securing Tomorrow,’ focuses on restoring and rebuilding sustainable communities through development and preservation of green spaces.
The initiative will also see the company prioritising use of native plants, dust suppression initiatives, local infrastructure rehabilitation as well as the establishment of a tailing storage facility.
“It’s important to note that no mine can operate without a tailing storage facility. It’s an important part of the process, and I don’t want to be too technical, but all of the water and the slimes that come out of the process gets deposited in this tailing storage facility,” said Barnard.
The KMH gold cluster head Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya, who is also the managing director of Freda Rebecca, underscored the importance of a tailing storage facility- a structure used to store potentially hazardous waste materials after mineral extraction.
“This TSF extension is a 47-hectare facility, whose construction was split into two, into Phase A and Phase B.
“The idea behind splitting the construction was so that we could use Phase A as early as possible, in case there were problems with our existing TSF,” said Maseva-Shayawabaya.
“We started using Phase A of this facility at the beginning of February. So we averted any potential risks that we might have encountered with our existing TSF. Phase A is 15 hectares, which is what we are using now. The remaining 32 hectares will be completed by the end of June this year.”
He added that the project will cost us approximately US$13 million.
“To date, we have spent around US$ million of that US$13 million,” he added, noting that over 10 000 indigenous trees have been planted at Freda’s TSF since the beginning of the year,” said Freda Rebecca managing director.
Meanwhile, KMH’s subsidiary, Freda Rebecca Gold Mine (Freda), has indicated that its gold production averaged 200 kilogrammes per month over the past 11 months owing to improved operating efficiencies.
In July 2024, the miner spent approximately US$100 000 on repair costs for its Mill Number 2, which was down for close to a fortnight, but is now up and running.
“We have had a very good year, with an average production of 200 kg a month. So, we expect to end this financial year on March 31 with a production of just over 2,400 kg,” said Maseva-Shayawabaya.
The KMH gold cluster which includes Freda Rebecca Gold Mine, Shamva Gold Mine and Jena Mine in the Midlands, is targeting to produce 106 000 ounces of gold in the current fiscal year.
“So, by doing this, we ensure that there is no pollution into the environment, and make sure that we contain all of the water and the slimes, and then also reuse the water in our process,” he said.