Mine History
- Shamva Mine is situated in the Bindura-Shamva Greenstone Belt, 90km northeast of Harare, Zimbabwe.
- With a rich history dating back to 1893, this mining enterprise has been a stalwart contributor to the region’s mineral wealth.
- Recorded production figures show that Shamva Mine has produced 2,315,814 ounces of gold from 28,466,711 tonnes of ore over its life from 1909 to March 2013, for a recovery grade of 2.53g/t gold.
- The mine produced 119,244 ounces of gold from 2013 until it was placed under care and maintenance in 2019. Kuvimba Mining House acquired Shamva Mine in 2020 and recommenced production. During the period from April 2020 to June 2024, the mine produced a total of 108,782.74 ounces under Kuvimba Mining House’s management.
- The mine’s success is underpinned by the exploitation of numerous orebodies nestled within a 300-400m shear system, a testament to the meticulous exploration and operational prowess of the mining team.
Mining Operations
Shamva Mine has underground operations as well as an open pit (East Pit) project. i. Underground Mining: Two underground mining methods are currently being used at the Shamva Gold Mine Project: Longhole Stoping and Underhand stoping (“Jackhammer”). The selection between these two methods is based upon the geometry of the localised targeted ore-body. Larger, or massive localised type orebodies are mined with the Long-hole stoping methods, whereas narrow and smaller localised ore-bodies is mined using the Underhand stoping (“Jackhammer”) method. ii. Open Pit Mining (East Pit): The mining strategy is to develop an open pit mine over existing underground voids created by previous underground mining of the ore-body with the addition of void back filling. Mining activities will be conducted by a mining contractor who will be responsible for drilling, blasting loading and hauling. Drilling will be conducted using drill rigs, loading will be done using hydraulic excavators and hauling will be via articulated or rigid dump trucks. Back filling of the voids will be conducted by the contractor using dozers.
Business Case
- The orebodies within the Shamva Hill are referred to as the South Parallel orebodies (Goromonzi, Flagstaff and Ashkirk). Cymric shear occurs 600 m due north and parallel to the Shamva Mine. Apart from No. 7 Ore Channel, which has a north-northeast trend, the shears follow a regional trend. Carbonates are present to some extent within all the ore channels and mineralisation within the orebodies consists of pyrite with minor sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite.
- Several phases of gold mineralisation occur at Shamva Mine. The most developed orebodies (Main, No. 7 Ore Channel and Eastern) extend more than 300 m on both strike and dip. These orebodies pinch and swell from less than 5 m to over 50 m. However, due to dolerite sill and dyke intrusion, the grade continuity is much less in the Cymric and South Parallel orebodies
- In-order to incorporate the open pit mining, upon completion of the DFS, a full EIA is required to be undertaken and an EIA certificate obtained
- The Mine operates under a valid mining lease 32 (or ML32) which was issued for gold mining and encompasses 540 ha.
- ML32 is issued in the name of previous Mine owners, Metallon Gold Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd.
- An application to transfer the title into the name of Kuvimba or a subsidiary company is required.
- Negotiations for the area extension of the ML32 are currently underway between Kuvimba and the government, to allow for construction of the new WRD, TSF and processing plant.
