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Drought Starts More Panning for Gold

Charles Rukuni writes from Bulawayo
ILLEGAL gold panners are growing more daring in Zimbabwe It 1s feared that as the drought deepens more and more people will resort to the trade which brings tn ready cash.
The panners produce about two kilograms of gold a day but sell only 1.5 kg a year to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which Is the only authorised buyer of gold.
Panning often leads of violence. Last year a father a and son, Harry Pearse Coventry. 63. and Douglas Bevis Coventry. 42. were caught by detectives as they bought processed gold from illegal panners along the Rudne River. Masvlngo.
Douglas ran to his car and took out a pistol. In a shoot-out the police ran out of ammunition, One escaped, leaving his colleague behind. The Coventrys held the officer hostage.
The detective who escaped found his way to Buchwa Mine. 60 km away. A police team rescued their colleague and arrested the two Coventrys. Two bottles of processed gold and #Z14,387 (n cash were rccov-
cred
loiter three gunmen shot dead Isaac Bhangenl, 23. at his home in central Mashonaland, 15 km from Blndua. Bhangenl was reported to be middleman for a small-scale gold miner. The gunmen were believed to be associated with another miner and took away some gold. They were not caught.
In another incident three panners made a fire in the shaft of disused mine. They suffocated to death and rescue teams took two weeks to retrieve the bodies. Yet other panners have drowned when the rivers tn which they were operating flooded.
Panning has become more attractive as a result of the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar by 40 per cent last year. The price of gold rose from SZ 1.000 to SZ1.8OO an ounce.
Giles Munyoro. president of the Small Sclae Miners Association of Zimbabwe, estimate* that 100,000 people are involved in gold panning across the country. Most operations are along the major
rivers — Rundc. Insiza, Muzingwane and Mtshabczi in Matablclcland. and Mazowc In
Mashonaland. The rivers and the dams on them have silled up as a result.
Some panners arc now reported lo be carrying out on-thc-»pot gold dust testing, using mercury which is poisonous and therefore a health hazard to people living downstream. The panners are quite aware of the environmental hazards
They simply say tt Is a question of survival : "It's better to drown searching for the precious metal than to die of hunger." They do not discriminate In to whom they sell the gold. In most cases they sell it to illegal dealers who In turn sell it outside the country.
To control panning and save the rivers from further degradation. the government has passed regulation setting out how panners should operate. Panners seeking alluvial gold along the public streams and rivers must get a permit from their local council.
Permits cost SZ20 a year for each 50-metre stretch of water. Only over-18s and people living tn the area can get them. Although they can oper-
ate as Individuals of as co-op-erattves. people must be of good character and sell their gold to the Reserve Bank or Its agents
Alluvial gold operations must be confined to the river bed and diggers must not exceed a depth of 1.5 metres. Operators cannot use mechanical equipment and must backfill areas they have mined as they continue operations.
Records are kept of all permit holders and to the gold obtained and sold by each operator. Anyone flouting the regulations will not be given a permit for five year* and can be fined up to 8Z2.000 or 'jailed for six months.
The regulations have not been given enough publicity and most people are still operating illegally and come from areas ouststde where they operate. They are believed to be agents of big business.
CHARLES RUKUNI. a freelance Journalist, was the Harate editor of the Zimbabwean weekly Moto, and later deputy news editor of the Bulawayo Chronicle.