.1 Project Summary
The Artisanal and Small Scale Mining sector in Zimbabwe has in recent years contributed significantly towards national foreign currency generation and is uncontestably one of the most thriving albeit informal sectors in Zimbabwe providing a livelihood to an estimated 500,000 people directly and indirectly. The sector?s informality has resulted in miners not having access to technical support services hence their continued engagement in unsafe mining practices. The sector is largely male dominated with a few women fully participating in the sector. The few women in the ASGM sector have played a significant role and changed the livelihoods of their families. Women still face a number of challenges that range from social, economic, cultural and political which have affected their full participation. Women in most mining districts are into processing of gold using mercury and of note are that two in three of artisanal and small-scale women miners in Zimbabwe use mercury in their day to day activities within the mining sites. Mercury, a toxic chemical element which if not handled and used appropriately, has the potential to bio-accumulate in not only the environment but also in human bodies, flora and fauna. However, it still remains popular with the miners because it is relatively cheap, readily available, easy to use and quite effective in extracting gold. This calls for an urgent action in adopting long lasting solutions to address this cause of concern especially in women in mining who use it on a daily basis.

The ASGM sector is the second highest contributor of mercury emissions, releasing 23,760 kg Hg/y (which is 29 % of all mercury releases). It has been shown that if all ASG Miners were to extract gold in an environmentally sound manner (through the use of retorts, and extracting from concentrate rather than from whole ore), then the mercury releases from this sector would be reduced to 4,142.6 kg Hg /y. It is therefore imperative that measures are put in place to ensure that this economically important sector conducts its operations in an environmentally sound manner. There is need to train miners in Kwekwe which is in the Midlands part of Zimbabwe about 250 kilometers from the Capital City. Miners should be trained on safe handling of mercury especially women who tend to wash ores from other miners for a fee, the use of retorts, mercury awareness, and other alternatives like shaking tables, fume hoods, improved sluicing, clean gold buying desks is key in addressing the issues of mercury.

The proposed approach has been designed to generate learning for the project, for stakeholders, and for beneficiaries through ongoing analysis, iterative and adaptive management, and documentation and dissemination of key lessons from the project?s implementation and results from the tried alternatives to mercury use which include direct smelting and shaking tables.

Mercury is a metal like substance which is very dangerous and affects the nervous system, harms unborn babies in pregnant women, causes night sweating and also affects the male reproductive system. In Kwekwe, miners use mercury to win their gold after crushing and in most cases they burn the amalgam in open air posing dangers to communities and themselves when they inhale the smoke from burning amalgam. This has also affected non-miners within the community as effluent is left flowing into nearby rivers and community members use the same source for drinking water or get fish from the affected rivers. Over the years, women in ASGM around Kwekwe area have been showing signs of some of the mercury effects.

The project aims to address mercury issues in women through training on the dangers of mercury and to introduce mercury free technologies, safe handling of mercury and test of alternatives to mercury that have been successful in other countries. The project would also train miners around Kwekwe on changing their mindset, the project noted that most miners use mercury to win their gold not necessarily because it is the best but they have not tried other methods. The project might even give miners more output at the same time saving lives from the deadly metal substance. The project will target areas within Kwekwe which include Sherwood and Gaika. The Project will be relevant to the GEF/SGP Country Programme Strategy in that it is going to make sure miners get more gold output through cleaner and safe technologies as the world is changing towards responsible sourcing.
1.2 Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the project
Gingie West Mining Syndicate was formed in 2015 after a long period of struggling to access claims within the Kwekwe area and it is a special grant (SG5979). The syndicate consists of three hardworking women (see attached IDs), one of them a youth;

1. Vaida Sibili, Managing Director
2. Sibongile Zhuwarara
3. Mordene Mutonhora

For the purposes of implementing this project, the syndicate will employ the following consultants, with attached CVs;

1. Ambition Mutazu, Engineer and technical consultant (mercury and SHEQ expert)
2. David Mangongo, Finance and administration consultant

The special grant (SG5979) was first registered in 2015, with renewals being granted every two years since then. The current tenancy runs from July 2019 to July 2021, and the Ministry of Mines has promised to renew it thereafter, for at least two years. The City of Kwekwe has also assured her that they will not need to use the reserved area for the next four years.

Kwekwe is in the Midlands part of Zimbabwe and it is well known for producing gold and chrome. The project will focus on gold which is usually mined by artisanal and small scale miners? in Kwekwe. The syndicate has been working in the mining sector for over five years giving them a lot of experience to address mercury issues. The project has been using mercury for the past years and has noticed the effects of mercury through some of its community members who have slowly changed behavior and some having symptoms related to massive mercury use.

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Minamata Convention. Though they have not yet ratified, they are rated in the top ten mercury users. It might be impossible for Zimbabwe to fully rule out the use of mercury at the moment but there is need to reduce and come up with other alternatives that our syndicate has tried over the past few months. The syndicate has so far put up a shaking table in trying to eradicate the use of mercury on the mining site. It is our passion to show other women miners how possible it is to win gold without using mercury. Gingie West Mining syndicate has been working in the extractives industry for 5 years and our core business is gold mining. Through attending government and Civil Society organized workshops we have come to learn more about the dangers of mercury and the need to educate surrounding communities on safe handling of mercury and also trying less harmful alternatives. We are affiliated with the Zimbabwe Miners Federation an umbrella Board for artisanal miners in Zimbabwe. The targeted population is roughly 300 people, including women, youth, people with disabilities and any other miners interested in learning more about mercury use and handling.

1.3 Project Objectives and Expected Results
Problem statement or challenge the project intends to address

The project aims to address the problem of artisanal small-scale gold miners handling and ingesting mercury during the extraction of gold. The negative effects of prolonged exposure to mercury have been noted in members of the community, with most of them unaware of the root cause.

The project will address this through raising awareness on the dangers of mercury use in the mining sector focusing on women for a better ASGM sector.

Overall project goal/primary objective

Against this background, the goal of Gingie West Mining Syndicate is to improve knowledge on the effects of mercury, train on safe handling of mercury and introduce mercury free technologies. This will be addressed through the following three specific objectives;

? Specific objectives
1. To promote mercury free technologies through workshops in Kwekwe. The syndicate will initially hold an inception meeting where key stakeholder groups are represented (25 people), to garner support for the project. Thereafter, mercury awareness workshops will be held to introduce the subject to the target population, and give the theoretical background to the dangers of mercury and possible alternatives.

2. To improve the knowledge of women miners on the dangers of mercury and capacity development on alternative to mercury use and safe handling. This will be done through purchasing and distributing free retorts to use when extracting gold, and being taught how to use them. PPE (gloves and masks) will also be distributed to mitigate the effects of exposure to mercury. The project will purchase a shaking table similar to the one already installed on the mine. This will be used along with a hammer mill for custom milling, and onsite demonstrations will be held for ASGM who come to mill their ores. Fellow millers in the community will also be invited to encourage them to use the technology.

3. To promote social inclusion of marginalized groups such as socially disadvantaged people and youth within the ASM sector on mercury awareness and other challenges within the sector. The project will also provide information on how to formalize operations and possibly pooling resources. Youths and persons with disabilities will receive first preference during these training sessions. This will enable them to increase their scale of operations, thereby improving their income and livelihoods.

? Rationale/justification of the project

The issue of promoting mercury free technologies in ASM is supported by the GEF programme through its objective on the need to pilot and test good practices, technologies and alternative approaches. There is need to come up with other mercury free technologies such as the use of shaking tables, direct smelting and improved sluicing. The Minamata convention is calling for minimal use or doing away with mercury use hence the need to come up with other cleaner technologies that can be used to win gold without affecting human life and the environment.

Since 2000, Zimbabwe?s artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector has dramatically increased and became one of the most powerful foreign income earning sectors, and a crucial sector for Zimbabwe?s development. Informality of the sector, however has seen an increase in illegal trading of gold on the black market and subsequent smuggling to neighboring countries and overseas. ASM in Zimbabwe is predominantly concentrated on the extraction of gold, chrome, tantalite, semiprecious stones and industrial minerals. Gold exploitation, however, dominates the sector, having accounted for 90% of ASM activities in 2001 and 70% in 2013, according to the CEO of Zimbabwe Miners federation. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is a livelihood source for approximately 7.1% of the Zimbabwean labour force. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) data has shown gold deliveries by ASMs trending upwards from 0.9 tonnes (2009) to 22 tonnes (2018). A ban of mercury will lead to a decrease in the gold deliveries and also unemployment as most ASM uses mercury hence the need to come up with other alternatives that will lead to more production of gold. This will mostly affect women who play a role in the processing of gold within the ASGM sector.

Mercury use is rife in artisanal mining in Zimbabwe and indeed, across the world. Given the ratification, Zimbabwe, along with other nations, is now expected to participate in processes that would lead to the abatement and ultimately eradication of mercury use. These processes include developing a national inventory on mercury use in Zimbabwe; developing a national action plan to address mercury use and participating in the Minamata Convention Conference of Parties. The work of participating within the Convention processes and leading Zimbabwe?s compliance lies with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate and departments such as the Environmental Management Agency.

While Conventions are signed at an inter-governmental level, there is recognition that other stakeholders, such as international development partners, miners, civil society and mining syndicates such as ours who can play an important role in ensuring progress towards realizing the aspirations of a Convention. Gingie West Mining Syndicate has long since recognized the need to work with miners around Kwekwe especially women who are marginalized in terms of knowledge to develop solutions around mercury and to empower them.

The issue on improving the knowledge of miners on the dangers of mercury and capacity development on alternative livelihood options for miners in ASGM sector is key, in that most miners and community women members venture into mining due to poverty and unemployment. They work under unsafe conditions but there are other options and innovative ways in which community members and miners could work together and benefit from mining. Water derived from dewatering mines in Kwekwe can be used by other non-miners and community members for farming purposes thereby avoiding the water being wasted and also running into drinking ponds. People can practice farming using water pumped out by miners and this can help protect the environment and employment.

Women, youth and the disabled are usually left out in development programs. The project will include all these social groups within Kwekwe community. These groups have interest in mining issues and because they are usually left out they tend to lack knowledge on handling of mercury thereby being slowly affected by the substance. Some even go to an extent of swallowing mercury when they see the law enforcers and this is a great sign of lack of knowledge amongst these social groups. It is key to include all social groups within the mining communities so that the environment is protected and also for them to be able to participate in different policy platforms. The national Action Plan led by Environmental Management Agency (EMA) have plans to conduct consultation meetings on alternatives and safe handling of mercury and it is the project?s desire for miners within Kwekwe to fully participate and contribute to a well thought policy that would not affect the future generations.


Table 1: Objectives, activities, outputs and outcomes

OBJECTIVE 1:. To promote mercury free technologies through onsite demonstrations
Outputs Activities Outcome
Output 1: improved knowledge on the environment and dangers of mercury use by women

Indicators for planned actions:
? Number of women miners with improved knowledge on the dangers of mercury

? Baseline:

Target:
? 15% reduction from baseline midway through the project
? 40% reduction from the baseline by the end of two years
1. Training of women miners in Kwekwe on cleaner mercury free technologies.

2. Designing of a mercury free gold processing plant at mine site for miners to access and learn more on the processing plant.

3. Awareness raising on the dangers of mercury A mercury free technology onsite and being used by miners.

A mining community that uses mercury free technologies.

OBJECTIVE 2: To improve the knowledge of women miners on the dangers of mercury and capacity development on alternative to mercury use and safe handling
Outputs Activities Outcome
Output 2: Safe handling of mercury with improved knowledge on its dangers

Indicators for planned actions:

? Number of miners using fume hoods and PPE at mine sites

Baseline:
Target:
? 30% of baseline number of miners using fume hoods and PPE
Onsite demonstrations on safe handling of mercury

Training on use of fume hoods to avoid direct inhaling of smoke from the burning amalgam.

Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Improved use of PPE, retorts and Fume hoods
OBJECTIVE 3: To promote social inclusion of marginalized groups within the ASM sector on mercury awareness and other challenges within the sector.
Outputs Activities Outcome
Output 3: an inclusive mining community

Indicators for planned actions:

Number of women, youth and the disabled participating in mining related activities

Baseline:
Target:
? 20 percent baseline number of women, youth and disabled in mining Gender and mining training

Radio dialogues on inclusion in mining
A gender and disability inclusive mining sector.
(see Annex 1)