ZIMBABWE’S largest mining group, Kuvimba Mining House (KMH), has implemented a mine-to-market traceability software that enables the tracking of minerals produced from their mining entities up to the marketing.
Addressing the media yesterday the group acting Chief Executive Officer Trevor Barnard revealed that the system was installed in 2021 by the United Kingdom-based Comstack, and Kuvimba mining group is the first in Zimbabwe.
“It is really a system that gives us transparency and accountability, and it enhances our gold traceability system from mine to the market. So why did we need to do this? There are a lot of reasons for that, but I think what is most important for us is that we need to have regulatory compliance.
“It is important that we comply with the regulations, but not only within Zimbabwe, but also internationally. We also wanted to make sure that we are transparent about it, so that anybody who buys any gold that comes with Kuvimba can actually then understand where this gold is sourced from, and that this gold is legitimately mined,” he said.
Children are exposed to hazardous materials, suffer accidents from heavy lifting in tunnels, and are denied the education they deserve. They are often trapped in a cycle of debt bondage, exploited for little to no pay. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) plays a vital role in combating this issue. They provides a framework for companies to assess and mitigate child labor risks in their supply chains. The OECD prioritizes eradicating the “worst forms” of child labor, such as dangerous work and trafficking.
According to Barnard, by tracking minerals from extraction to market, companies can identify and eliminate child labor from their supply chain.
Speaking to Great Dyke News 24 on the sidelines of the mine to market media tour held in Bindura yesterday, Freda Rebecca Gold Mine managing director, Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya said the group contributes 10% of gold deliveries to the country’s production hence the need for a traceability system.
“Freda Rebecca Gold Mine is one of three companies in the KMH gold cluster. In that cluster, apart from Freda, we’ve got Shamva Gold Mine and Jena Gold Mine in the Midlands. The three companies produce around about 3.6 tonnes of gold a year, which means we account for about 10%, of the country’s gold production.
“We are one of the bigger gold producers in the country. Because of the quantity of gold that we produce monthly, which is about 300 kg a month from the three companies, there are no question marks on how that gold is disposed of. And the mine to market software that Comstack developed for us is a tool that enables the complete traceability of our gold with regards to its origin.
“Because once it’s put on the scale in our gold room and input into the system, various levels are immediately alerted as to where that gold is coming from, so that when it ends, ultimately the ultimate customer will know as we weigh it in the gold room that there’s 30 kg of gold that’s coming in and expected within the next two days,” he said.
Kuvimba Mining House is a mining investment company that works to resuscitate, capitalise and resource mining companies.
