- Activist alleges company installed 100-plus cyanidation tanks without a licence.
- Residents fear contamination of borehole water, he says.
- He alleges unidentified people blew up the neighbourhood gate with dynamite.
- Claims not independently verified, comment sought from authorities.
THE CENTRE for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) has alleged that a company is processing gold ore with more than 100 cyanidation tanks, without a licence, in a residential area outside Mutare.
CNRG Executive Director Farai Maguwu said Bravolands Mining began installing the tanks a few months ago at the far end of Valley of Kings, a settlement in the hills along the Mutare-Harare highway near Magamba campus.
The tanks are reportedly meant to process gold ore from Penhalonga, he said.
Maguwu said residents were told that neither the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development nor the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) had granted Bravolands a mining or mineral processing licence for the site.
He said most residents rely on borehole water and fear contamination from cyanide. The community is said to have hired a private security company to protect the neighbourhood.
Penhalonga police called a meeting between the residents’ committee, Mutasa Rural District Council and Bravolands, Maguwu said. On the eve of that meeting, unidentified people allegedly blew up the Valley of Kings gate with dynamite and pulled down fences, he wrote.
He said police detectives from Mutare visited the area. He said Bravolands is continuing its cyanidation activities and that no arrests have been made.
Maguwu also alleged that another company is blasting at Christmas Pass, a few kilometres up the highway, despite a ministerial cease-and-desist order issued in September.
“This lawlessness has reached an alarming level and is now a threat to national security,” Maguwu said. “The government must put its foot down and stop illegal mining activities to protect citizens.”
ZiMining could not independently verify whether Bravolands holds a valid licence for the Valley of Kings site, or whether any arrests have been made over the alleged gate attack.
Gold processing in and around Penhalonga has expanded in recent years. A 2024 report by the Centre for Research and Development counted 28 cyanidation sites and 860 illegal hammer mills in Penhalonga and surrounding communities, up from 21 and 532 in January 2023.
