As a responsible international new energy company, Sinomine has been rooted in the local community since its acquisition of Bikita Minerals in 2022. It has made great efforts in environmental protection and social responsibility and is committed to contributing to the prosperity of the Bikita region where the company is located...

Recently, VOA published an article titled "Chinese Companies Accused of Abusing Local Workers in Zimbabwe", in which it made a lot of false remarks and had a bad impact on our public image. Now we respond and explain this.

on the safety of mine blasting

...Ensuring the safety of our residents and our surrounding communities is the foundation of our operations and is key to ensuring our zero-harm commitment. As of now, we have had no casualties in 2024...We operate under a certified Environmental Management System (ISO4001-2015), which has been integrated into our business management system...

We comply with all the environmental and safety regulations of the country, and in carrying out the blasting procedures, we strictly comply with the statutory instruments concerning explosives regulations No.109 of 1990 and 72 of 1989...

In accordance with the above legal requirements, we strictly control the distance between the village (Masarasara) and the blasting site. Before the blasting, the Safety and Environmental Protection Department will inform the villagers within the safe distance of each blasting to evacuate, in order to ensure that the evacuation are made in time thereby ensuring the personal safety of the villagers...

Bikita has begun building a new village for all employees and families. New housing will be completed in the first quarter of 2025. The new houses will accommodate employees and their families....

medical support

In terms of medical support, in fact, the former employer did not offer employees free drugs, but as what Bikita have done now, the company subsidized all employees, employees pay for a fraction of the cost, and the company pays more than half of the cost.The company offers a drug subsidy of at least 70% for all employee’s medication to ensure the medical care is affordable. Basic pain killers are provided free of charge... Bikita Minerals has extended its shared responsibility to include the health of dependents of employees, as well as broader investments in community healthcare projects...

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short term-contract

Bikita minerals is a law abiding Corporate and therefore subjects itself to the laws of the land. Our operations are continuously and regularly audited by the Ministry of labour and Social Services, National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and National Employment Council (NEC)...

Bikita Minerals offer employees fixed-term contract and long-term contracts and of the 1078 employees directly employed by the company 216 are permanent employees.

As a matter of fact, Bikita Minerals pays way above the National Employment Commission (NEC) mining rates. The least employed employee is paid $450 (75% USD) and (25% Zig). Average wage bill is USD 1177.59

In addition, we pay all our employees a monthly production bonus and an annual bonus.

"workers and the community see no benefit"

Bikita Minerals is committed to sustainability and community engagement. The company allocate a significant budget to the development of the Bikita community, investing in infrastructure, healthcare, education and sustainable livelihood projects.

So far, we have invested over US$12.5 million in community initiatives including borehole drilling, skills development, road maintenance, school programs, and health clinic support.

We recruit 80% of our employees from the local community...