Mozambique: Illegal miner dies in mine shaft collapse

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Mozambique: Illegal miner dies in mine shaft collapse

4:09 CAT | 06 Aug 2020

Photo: O Pais

An artisanal miner died on Tuesday, when an illegal mine shaft collapsed on top of him in Montepuez district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, according to a report in Thursday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”.

He was the second miner to die in identical circumstances in the space of a fortnight. The first death occurred on 27 July.

The miner who died on Tuesday was one of four men digging a shaft illegally within the concession of the company Montepuez Ruby Mining (MRM), which operates the largest known deposit of rubies in the world.

The dead man, whose name has not yet been revealed, was 28 years old, and lived in the Namanhumbir administrative post, where the MRM concession is located, although he was a native of the neighbouring province of Nampula. He is a repeat offender, who had been arrested for illegal mining activities in February.

MRM argues that the illegal mining is a well-organised racket that often involves foreign citizens, who pay Mozambican miners a pittance to extract gemstones under extremely dangerous conditions.

On 29 June, the Mozambican authorities announced that they had dismantled a gemstone trafficking network in Montepuez, seizing just over four tonnes of various minerals including tourmaline, gold, corundum, quartzites and garnets, in addition to several grams of rubies.

This was a joint operation between the police and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. The gemstones were seized in homes and commercial establishments in Montepuez town. The Ministry’s general inspector, Obede Matine, said at least ten people were involved, including several foreigners who were in the country illegally.

MRM says that its own research among communities near the concession area “uncovered a modern slavery network whereby vulnerable young people were becoming indebted to foreign traffickers and smuggling networks. The arising negative impact of an influx of illegal miners into local communities – not to mention the resulting loss of tax revenue to the government – damages the social fabric of local communities and prevents Mozambican citizens fr

Source: AIM