HARARE - Liberation Mining Company has been kicked out of the wildlife rich Gwayi-Shangani dam catchment area following intense pressure from local wildlife conservationists and environmentalists, The Zimbabwean has learnt. (Pictured: Gwayi-Shangani gorge
The Mines and Mining Development ministry last year gave Liberation Mining Company a special grant to do prospecting work for coal and coal-bed methane gas. The move was strongly resisted by environmentalists, conservationists and the Ministry of Water Resources Development and Management, who argued that the mining venture would affect wild life in the area and contaminate water from the Gwayi-Shangani dam with toxic waste and oil.
Sources in the Mines and Mining Development ministry told The Zimbabwean this week that the deal had been cancelled.
The government has withdrawn the Liberation Mining Companys licence. There were a lot of procedures which were flouted when awarding the grant to the company. For example, no environmental impact assessment study was carried out when the mining venture started, said a source in the Ministry who refused to be named.
Mines and Mining Development minister, Obert Mpofu at the time maintained that the mining project was a major milestone for the regions growth but the Zimbabwe Wildlife Task Force and Environment Africa raised strong concerns over the project.
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