-Mberengwa member ventures into ball milling
SHARON NYAYA
MBERENGWA-Young Miners Foundation (YMF) member from Mberengwa, Ronald Mugangavari (35) who is the CEO of Clifton 15 Goldmine Vanguard hosted an open day which coincided with the federation’s 13th anniversary on Friday June 16.
The open day was held under the theme, ‘Young miners leaving no one and no place behind towards a sustainable US$12 Billion mining industry’.
YMF is a Trust organization established in 2010 to advance and upscale youths(18-40yrs) entrepreneurial participation in mining enterprise development & commercialization.
It is also an affiliate of Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC) whose core duties include organizing young people into more formalised, responsible, environmentally friendly, sustainable and mechanised small scale mining projects and programs.
It holds to the conviction that small scale mining should not be taken as a poverty alleviation initiative but as a business, hence one of their members Mugangavari is leading by example as he exhibited their when he showed fellow miners how is he formalizing his mining operations by venturing into milling.
“Clifton 15 Mine is located in Vanguard, Mberengwa, established in February 2012. Mining operations have been on and off characterised by a long and tedious mining dispute which was put to rest by both the High court and Ministry of Mines in 2021.
“Given its open pit nature gold ore resources are exposed, abundant and require a bigger sized processing plant hence the installation of a ballmill milling plant which move more volumes even at low grades.
“Due to lack of funds, it took us 9months to install and commission the plant and we are yet to install a CIp (carbon in pulp) plant to full extract all the gold,” Mugangavari.
As a young miner, Mugangavari couldn’t hide the challenges they face when trying to formalize their operations as well as trying to upgrade into more redefined processes of extracting gold like any other big companies throughout the world.
“The chief constraint in the mining industry at large and particularly the youths is funding, mining being a capital intensive business, it’s always a hustle to access capital as all financial institutes require collateral,” added Mugangavari.
Mugangavari said he was elated to showcase his progress to other miners and was grateful to YMF for holding the commemorations at his mine.
“I am honored to host such a successful event organised by YMF as it gave us youth a chance to network and educate each other on the mining journey.
“I have been with YMF for three years now and recently I won an award as recognition of my hard work. The organisation is indeed a true mining expertise coach, I encourage the youth both aspiring and active to join and enjoy the ride and the mining learning curve,” He added
The event was attended by YMF members across the country and representatives from most provinces. Companies in the mining value chain industry exhibited and representatives from Ministry of Mines and School of Mines were also present.
MINEX, BUY ZIMBABWE and Ya FM chairperson Munyaradzi Hwengwere also graced the event. He urged miners to engage Fidelity Gold when erecting big plants like the ballmill milling plant at Clifton 15 as these processes need capital.
He added after all the gold will finally go to Fidelity Gold and it’s the miner’s rights to ask the RBZ arm to capitalize their operations. Hwengwere also urged miners to attend mining workshops and exhibitions for exposure.
