Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A Chinese mining company, Heijin Mining Company (PVT) LTD, has said media reports which suggest that it has evicted villagers in Uzumba to pave way for black granite mining in the area are inaccurate.
The company said it was still applying for certificates from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and has NOT started any mining or exploring activities
Heijin Mining Company added that it abides by local laws and intends to take legal actions against fake news. Pindula News presents the company’s statement.
Heijin Mining Company (PVT) LTD
1. Heijin Mining Company has not started any mining activities at its claim in Uzumba being Kaseke. We are still in the process of applying for the relevant licenses and certificates from the relevant government departments. Heijin is a law-abiding company.
2. The picture shown on the Newsday story is not a picture from our mine.
3. Heijin company didn’t evict any villager from its mines. The issue of families that will or may be affected by mining activities is being dealt with by the company in conjunction with the Ministry of Mines and other relevant government departments. We are waiting for an official report from government on this and we are willing to corporate with all stakeholders especially the affected villagers in a humanely manner.
4. We will take legal action against any party that publishes misleading articles or news with fake information.
In the NewsDay article in question, it is stated that Heijin recently pegged a whole village in Uzumba to extract black granite in the area, but is facing resistance from villagers.
The article also states that eighty-nine households fall within the pegged area, which is approximately 300ha.
It also noted that the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) wrote to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) indicating that “section 97 of the Environmental Management Act, as read with section 7 paragraph (a) of the First Schedule to the Environmental Management Act, mineral prospecting, which includes pegging, cannot be conducted unless the Environmental Management Agency has issued a certificate approving the same.”
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