By Conrad Mupesa
Two of the 16 illegal gold miners who pounced on Eldorado Gold Mine on the outskirts of Chinhoyi last Friday morning have been arrested.
Ten others — two believed to be armed with guns — are still underground after gaining access to the mine shaft and hoisting out all mine workers.
They are believed to be mining.
The invasion, which occurred around 1am on Friday was captured on the mine’s CCTV and comes barely a week after the mine lost almost 1,5 kg of gold to robbers.
The two gang members were arrested on Monday evening after they were hoisted to the surface. Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Margaret Chitove confirmed the arrest and said the other 10 were still underground.
The gang gained entry into the mine premise by cutting through the perimeter fence and the 12 proceeded to the shaft entrance where they hoisted themselves underground, in front of CCTV cameras.
The other four simply disappeared into the dark.
When The Herald visited the mine last Friday, at least five armed police officers were manning the mine shaft entrance which has since been locked up. “Two of the men who gained access underground were holding guns. The other four vanished into the dark,” a security guard said.
Mine director Ms Emy Zhuang who said all the 12 were recorded on CCTV, added that mining operations have since been suspended.
“We have since lost over 18 hours of mining operations due to the attack. We have over 200 workers who need to be paid and each disruption affects work which in turn affects production.
“Last month we lost seven days of production to another invasion where six armed men invaded the mine.
“Police are now in charge and are very concerned about the safety of our workers. We are hopeful that they will be able to apprehend these culprits.”
Two weeks ago armed robbers made off with 3,3kg of amalgam gold from the mine which is close to about 1,5 kg of gold. The Herald
