Fourteen-year-old boy killed by Crocodile in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe.

A fourteen-year-old boy has died after being attacked by a Crocodile close to the Mazvikadei Dam in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe, according to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. The boy, who has not been named, was attacked while trying to cross a river on Saturday 25 April 2020. The boy's remains have been recovered, and the Crocodile destroyed by professional hunters. A funeral is planned later this week.

A Crocodile at Mazvikadei Dam, Zimbabwe. Mazvikadei Leisure Resort.

The Mazvikadei Dam Lake is home to a large population of Nile Crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus, which are popular with tourists. Nile Crocodiles are large animals, reaching about five meters in length, and are ambush predators capable of taking large prey, including, on occasion, Humans. The animals are thought to be at their most dangerous around September in Southern Africa, when the water is lowest, and females are guarding eggs buried in nests by the river, however they can clearly be dangerous at other times of year if provoked.

Nile Crocodiles are considered to be of Least Concern under the terms of the  International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of  Threatened Species, but are still protected in many countries, due to historic hunting which decimated populations in many areas. However, the rising number of attacks on Humans by the animals has led to calls for regulated hunting to be introduced to control the population. 

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Flood at Zimbabwe gold mine kills at least twenty three.

Twenty three bodies have been recovered and it is feared that more than fifty may have died following a flood at a disused gold mine in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe, on Tuesday 12 February 2019. The incident happened at the Cricket Mine at Battlefields, when a retaining dam collapsed allowing water to enter a shaft in which artisanal miners (miners in the informal sector using hand tools) were working. It has not been possible for rescue teams to enter the shaft due to the floodwaters, though pumping equipment has now been brought from nearby mines to attempt to drain the site.

A rescue worker attempts to enter the Cricket Mine in Battlefields, Mashonland West, on 15 February 2019. Jekesai Njikizana/AFP.

The entering of abandoned mines and other sites by artisanal miners is not regarded as illegal in Zimbabwe, a country plagued by high unemployment and other economic problems, and is recognised as making a significant contribution to the economy, as such miners are able to sell their product locally rather than smuggling it out to avoid the attention of local authorities, as happens in many African countries. However, the informal nature of this industry makes it extremely dangerous, as few if any health and safety precautions are taken in such mines, and their are occasional reports of armed clashes between rival groups over lucrative sites.

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Workers at Zimbabwe graphite mine strike over unpaid salaries.

Workers at the Zimbabwe German Graphite Mine (also known as the Lynx Mine) in Karoi District, Mashonaland West Province, have begun industrial action after their salaries have gone unpaid for 13  months. The action began on Friday 29 December, with workers downing tools and blocking trucks from collecting graphite from the mine compound. The miners also claim that the mine is now without electricity due to unpaid debts, leaving them without light and forcing them to take water from a mine tailing pond (pond used to store sediment-laden waters from mines; such waters typically contain a high proportion of fine silt and clay particles, which take time to settle out of the water, and may contain other pollutants, typically acids, either generated by the local geology or used in the mining process), but that managers at the mine have continued to collect their salaries.

The Zimbabwe German Graphite Mine in Karoi District, Mashonaland West Province. The Sunday Mail.

Graphite is a form of naturally occurring carbon,  most commonly found in metamorphic rocks of sedimentary origin, though it can be made artificially. It is used as a solid lubricant, forms the 'lead' in modern pencils, and is used in batteries and the manufacturing of steel.

The Zimbabwe German Graphite Mine was founded in 1982 as a joint enterprise between the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and Graphit Kropfmhül Gmbh of Germany. It was the only graphite mine in Africa until the Balama Graphite Mine in Cabo Delgado Province, northern Mozambique, opened in 2015. The combination of this new competition in the region with a global decline in graphite prices appears to have undermined the profitability of the Zimbabwe German Graphite Mine, resulting in its current financial crisis.

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Seven killed in Zimbabwe mine accident.

Seven workers have died and eleven more receive minor injuries following an accident at the Golden Valley Mine at Patchway in the Kadoma District of Zimbabwe at about 6.00 pm local time on Monday 9 June 2014. The workers wee in a hoist cage descending to begin their shift when for some reason the cage apparently ran out of control, dropping rapidly through the last 80 m of the 425 m shaft into a pool of water. The eleven surviving minors were able to escape through a hatch on the top of the lift, seven of the men were trapped and drowned. The cause of the accident is not yet known and the mine is currently closed pending an investigation by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. 

The approximate location of the Golden Valley Mine. Google Maps.

Golden Valley is one of a number of small gold mines around the Kadoma district of Mashonaland West. Fatalities at mines in Zimbabwe are sadly not uncommon, particularly in smaller mines where safety standards tend to be low, although the Golden Valley Mine is reported to have a good safety record by the Associated Mine Workers Union. The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe recorded 35 deaths in mines in the country in 2013.

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 Workers injured in incident at Namibian uranium mine.

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 Fatality at South African gold mine.

A worker as been killed at the Harmony Gold Mining operated Tshepong Gold Mine near Welkom in Free State, South Africa, on...

 One worker killed and three others injured at Marikana Platinum Mine, Rustenburg, South Africa.

One worker has been killed and another three injured in an incident...

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