RE: mick26 Nov 2020 22:07
I remember the area from the old Lonrho days......................
3 Historical overview on gold mining in Manica
Gold mining has been known since the Monomotapa Empire in Southern Africa, and the Manica Province was the
epicentre of the gold mining within the empire. Other sources, however, maintain that this activity has started
before the Bantu migration to the south of the Zambezi River (Torcato, 1941).
The methods used are basically the same as in the ancient times, being used by artisanal miners on the surface
today including mining, shafts and galleries. In the Empire of Monomotapa, gold served to lobolo (dawary),
exchanges in kind and was a symbol of power. The trade with the Arabs increased gold production in Manica.
However, gold production decreased due to the sixteenth century Portuguese occupation. The Portuguese
banned artisanal gold in the eighteenth century and throughout the colonial period. The artisanal mining was
banned for the indigenous people (Muacanhia & Deniasse, 2007), as well as in the years after independence of
Mozambique.
3.1. Genesis of artisanal gold mining in Manica District
The company Manica Gold Mines (ALMA: LONRHO) was granted two mining licenses late 80´s and this time
there was not artisanal mining in Manica District or elsewhere in Mozambique. With the commencement of mining
activities in the alluvium, communities started secretly making artisanal mining and sale of gold abroad. Due to
management difficulties, ALMA agreed some terms with artisanal miners and sellers for the company. However, it
soon sparked up a conflict and artisanal mining was first proliferating in Manica and then the rest of Mozambique,
particularly in Tete, Niassa, Sofala, Zambezia and Nampula provinces. Therefore, artisanal mining resumes in the
licensed area of the undertaking ALMA concessions (Muacanhia & Deniasse, 2007)
https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/gold_mining_in_mozambique.pdf
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