Harare — A Zimbabwean court has barred a miner from exploring for gold on a huge Matabeleland South ranch owned by the Oppenheimer family, the super-rich former proprietors of De Beers Diamond Corporation and Anglo American.
The Oppenheimers, through their company Shangani Holistic, turned to the courts after a South African firm Pearline Mineral Exploration conducted an aerial geophysical survey of their Shangani Ranch on June 2.
Judge Siyabona Paul Musithu of the Harare High Court ruled that Pearline Mineral Exploration must halt all "mineral mining activities" at the property which employs 400 people and keeps at least 8 000 cattle for beef exports.
This is despite Pearline Mineral Exploration being one of companies with the government-issued exclusive prospecting orders (EPOs) in 2021 which gives it the rights to prospect for minerals over a 3-year period. The EPOs cover 65,000 hectares, according to the Government Gazette, and were issued by the Mining Affairs Board.
The farm, which acts as a passageway for migratory animals, making it a sanctuary for wildlife, is also thought to be rich in lithium, manganese, zinc, nickel, copper, antimony, lead, and cobalt.
There is a small school on the farm with roughly 150 students, most of whom are the children of workers.
As a result, Justice Musithu decided that mining operations will have an impact on both the community and wildlife conservation.
In 1937, just two years before the start of World War II, the Oppenheimers purchased the property which encompassed a total area of 144,000 hectares at the time.
But when the late president Robert Mugabe started the land reform that led to the displacement of at least 4,000 white commercial farmers, it was cut in half.
Nicky Oppenheimer, heir to the DeBeers diamond business, met the late Mugabe in 2014 to safeguard his family's interests.
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"I was with Nicky, about a week ago here, he has land here and he comes to his farm once in a while. He said I normally wear three hats, the De Beers Diamonds hat, then the Anglo Gold hat and the Oppenheimer family hat, but today I am not wearing any of the other two I first mentioned," the late Mugabe said at the official opening of Zimbabwe's second Diamond Conference in 2014.
Oppenheimer is a South African billionaire businessman and one of the richest people in Africa.
He was formerly the chairman of De Beers diamond mining company and of its subsidiary, the Diamond Trading Company, and former deputy chairman of Anglo American.
In 2011, Anglo American took control of De Beers after buying the Oppenheimers' family stake of 40% for U.S.$5.1 billion, increasing its stake to 85%, ending the 80-year Oppenheimer control of the company.
