Feminine-African-Mine

The Zimbaqua gem mine is empowering ladies from a rural group in Zimbabwe to develop into financially impartial in a male-dominated trade.

Mining firms working with villagers in harsh environments can sometimes create alternatives for development and empowerment. And the small band of girls digging pits an hour’s drive from the nondescript city of Karoi in Zimbabwe, could also be one such instance.

They’re main an financial revolution at Zimbaqua — which the corporate claims is Africa’s first sustainable all-female mine.

Rumbidzai Gwinji, 34, is in cost, because the mine supervisor. She is likely one of the 35 ladies miners at Zimbaqua — based and funded by Iver Rosenkrantz, 44 and Patrick Tendayi Zindoga, 41, together with two like-minded Danish mates. “We’re altering the narrative and proving that even one of the male-dominated industries could be championed by ladies,” says Rosenkrantz.

“These ladies are completely satisfied and supportive of one another and work in the direction of a standard objective with no quick positive factors in focus.” Gwinji and her co-workers have the 2 founders to thank for his or her financial independence. Danish-born Rosenkrantz and Zimbabwe-born Zindoga had spent a yr shopping for stones from artisanal miners in Karoi and the encircling areas.

They are saying they bought to know the individuals locally. “We noticed, for ourselves, simply how a lot these ladies struggled — there aren’t any job alternatives right here.” So, Rosenkrantz and Zindoga got down to change that.

They first secured a mining licence for 50 hectares of land after which started recruiting employees for the Zimbaqua mine in 2019. “We imagine there’s a want for change and inclusivity. Unemployment in rural areas of Zimbabwe is an enormous problem, thus, alternatives for ladies are only a few.” Having noticed that alcohol abuse and home abuse had been widespread within the area, the 2 founders felt that, as a way to make a distinction locally, they needed to flip the ladies into breadwinners.

The ladies acquire mining expertise, rebuild their lives — and enter the workforce. For Gwinji, her job on the aquamarine mine ensures a gradual pay cheque. “I’ve develop into financially impartial,” she says. “Our all-women [team] is a superb deal right here. I’ve seen lives change, particularly, for the ladies in our group.”

Artisanal mining accounts for greater than 80% of the minerals mined in Africa, says Rosenkrantz, a lawyer-turned-gemmologist and entrepreneur. Since its opening, Zimbaqua has mined almost 50 tonnes of commercial aquamarine, 50 tonnes of beryl, and 5 tonnes of quartz, amongst different minerals. “Discovering gem-quality aquamarine isn’t as simple as individuals assume. I do know of different mines which have produced far lower than we’ve at Zimbaqua,” says Rosenkrantz.

The high-quality aquamarine — known as a “double blue” within the gem trade — fetches anyplace between US$500-US$1 000 per carat. About 10 kilogrammes of various gem high quality aquamarine has been mined thus far; the low grade stones account for almost 3 tonnes. “The largest crystal we mined weighed 160 grammes and was sawed into just a few gems; the largest single stone we lower was 76 carats — a high quality gem,” says Rosenkrantz.

There’s usually quite a lot of singing and dancing on the mine, however when the ladies miners hit a pocket, it turns into a celebration. Rutendo Chigwajara, 43, a mom of three, labored on tobacco farms and subsisted on the US$300-US$400 she made in a yr. She struggled to place meals on the desk and preserve her kids at school. “My kids had been usually kicked out of college,” remembers Chigwajara.

The native major college charges of US$15 a time period and the secondary college US$45 a time period is unaffordable for these ladies. “Lots of them are single moms or divorcees and have little or no training,” says Rosenkrantz. In her early days on the mine, Chigwajara labored as a pit employee.

Having been promoted since, she now earns almost US$3 000 a yr. Jewelry designers are rallying round Zimbaqua in an effort to attach straight with the supply of the semi-precious stones.

They’re eager to maintain issues as clear as doable. Amongst them is Felix Köck, managing director at Vienna-based jewelry model Von Köck, who makes use of Zimbaqua’s aquamarines to craft luxurious jewels and bespoke items for his shoppers. “I made a decision to collaborate with Zimbaqua as a result of it provides these ladies an opportunity to rebuild their lives — it provides them a job, honest wage and alternatives.”

British jewelry designer Daniella Draper can be a beneficiary of the Zimbaqua gems. “I used to be massively impressed by what they had been doing. Not solely are the aquamarines from Zimbaqua extremely lovely, however additionally they have a tremendous story — that of empowerment, liberation and honesty.”

Elaborating on Zimbaqua’s open-pit mining, Rosenkrantz says: “Compared to tunnel mining, the way in which we mine may be very low influence and far safer.” Discussing the environmental impacts, he explains: “We don’t use chemical substances we merely dig holes that we cowl up afterwards.

We assist the group in the easiest way doable.” Poised to launch a jewelry line, utilizing aquamarines from the mine, Rosenkrantz is exploring myriad methods to make the mine worthwhile. “On the anvil, as soon as price range constraints are sorted, is the Zimbaqua Imaginative and prescient challenge and group centre that might provide coaching in gem chopping, jewelry making, arts, crafts, paediatric clinic, pre-school, and lodging for volunteers.”

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