Harare Bureau
ZIMPLATS on Wednesday said the collapse of Bimha mine would not result in job losses and the platinum giant has since transferred 25 percent of the affected workers to other mines.Bimha was Zimplats’ largest platinum producer which caved in last week.

The other mines are Mupfuti, Rukodzi and Ngwarati.

Speaking during a media tour of Bimha Mine in Ngezi on Wednesday, the company’s general manager (mining), Simbarashe Goto, said two of the eight teams who were stationed at Bimha had been transfered to Rukodzi and Ngwarati mines.

“When we had this failure, we took two teams, one we sent to Rukodzi and the other to Ngwarati Mine”, he said. “Basically, everybody is still in their respective teams and they are able to continue their normal production.

“We are trying to mitigate the production loss. I am aware there was talk of a 50 percent production loss, but it is not necessarily the case.
“It is not 50 percent of the total production, but 50 percent or close to 50 percent of the production of Bimha Mine.”

Goto said they were investigating the amount required to restore productivity to its normal level.

“The reason why this would not be a 50 percent loss to us is because most of the area affected had been mined,” he said.

Goto said the affected area was now a no-go area and barricades had been erected to prevent entry, while plans were under way to redevelop the declines and open up the bottom roadways.

The Bimha Mine collapse was attributed to increased deterioration of ground conditions “associated with a major shear, the Mutambara shear, that transgresses through half of the mining area”.

The mining giant said the fault was first identified in 2011, but became more problematic last year along the declines and within the sloping footprint of Bimha Mine.

Zimplats said it had used $6 million in initiatives aimed at addressing regional ground stability and employee safety.

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