Published: 24 October 2025

Pan African Mining has terminated contracts for 150 employees as part of a rationalisation exercise prompted by declining gold production and a lack of new exploration and development projects.

In a written response to NewsDay inquiries, the company's head of human resources, Cyndrella Musimbe, said the job losses were primarily due to the expiry of fixed-term contracts, though a small number of employees were retrenched.

"It's not entirely true to say it's a retrenchment exercise of 150 employees," Musimbe explained. "A total of 139 were terminations of fixed-term contracts, while 11 were retrenchments."

Pan African Mining operates Ayrshire Mine in Banket and Muriel Mine in Mutorashanga. Musimbe said some affected workers would be absorbed at Ayrshire Mine, which is within commuting distance of Muriel.

Following the restructuring, Muriel Mine's workforce will drop from 368 to about 200 employees, while Ayrshire will retain 474 workers — leaving the company with a total staff complement of 720, down from 870.

Musimbe said the decision was driven by underperformance, with Muriel Mine currently producing around 14kg of gold per month, below the 20kg required to break even.

"Being a relatively deep mine, Muriel needs ore grades of around 4 to 5 grammes per tonne, but we've been mining at around 2.5 grammes per tonne," she said. "The underground section has proved unviable in the absence of additional exploration and development."

To improve viability, the company plans to invest in a new processing plant within the next five months to boost output.

"We are undertaking a feasibility study to process dumps at Muriel. If viable, the project will require about US$17 million in capital and could lift production to 50kg per month," Musimbe said.

She noted, however, that the project has been delayed due to difficulties in obtaining export permits for metallurgical test samples destined for South Africa.

Musimbe also cited high operating costs — including electricity tariffs of US$0.13 per kWh compared to US$0.09 for other industries — and heavy royalty burdens as major constraints on profitability.

"It is anticipated that after this rationalisation, the company may achieve break-even, though for the 2016 financial year, the position will remain negative," she added.

Muriel Mine, once a strong performer in Zimbabwe's gold sector, has struggled in recent years amid declining ore grades, rising costs, and a challenging economic environment.
- Newsday

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