Mvuma, previously named 'Umvuma', is a small mining town in

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

province in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Located 192 km south of

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

along the Harare - Masvingo highway. Approx 100 km from

Masvingo Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, th ...

Background

The main employer was the Athens Mine (formerly the Falcon Mine) owned by Lonrho Zimbabwe which mined gold, silver, and copper. It was closed down around 1996 due to a

mine shaft Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

collapse and the low price of gold. One may still see a huge chimney, on top of a hill near the mine, built in 1913 and visible from miles away. The chimney is 40.28m tall. A Scotsman by the name of Blackie, the maternal grandfather of virologist Professor Robert 'Bob' Swanepoel, apparently played a major role in building this chimney.

Population

The population is estimated to be around 7000, and the town has an altitude of 1406m.

Geology

The Athens and Falcon gold-copper mines are just south of Mvuma, within the east-west trending Umvuma

greenstone belt Greenstone belts are zones of variably metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic volcanic sequences with associated sedimentary rocks that occur within Archaean and Proterozoic cratons between granite and gneiss bodies. The name comes from the green ...

, consisting of

talc Talc, or talcum, is a Clay minerals, clay mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thi ...

ose, tremolitic, and chloritic

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

s. Claims were filed at Falcon in 1900, and mining of

chalcopyrite Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mo ...

, with a gold content of 6.7 gram per ton, took place from 1910 until 1926. The Athens, 500 m to the east, was mined from 1923 until 1958 for gold and silver within

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe(1-x)S (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it is ...

, and chalcopyrite. Lonrho Investment Co. operated the claims starting in 1973.

Geography

The area is link between Gweru and Chivhu. Located approximately 83 km from Gweru and approximately 54 km to Chivhu. The area is surrounded by Chirumhanzu Communal lands which fall within its administration. Nearby farms include the former Central Estates Headquarters formerly owned by N. Van Hoogstraten with capacity to employee 1000 workers. Due to land redistribution in 2000 the agricultural hub failed, with the closure of Athens mine, led to migration and thus urban decay of Mvuma.

Operations

There are huge

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

dumps around the town as a by-product from the gold mining. Now dominated by

cattle ranching A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

and agriculture as the means of community support. Formally known as Umvuma, and Umvooma. Mvuma houses a few government offices at district level. It hosts the

Chirumhanzu Rural District Council Takawira Rural District Council is rural local authority created under the Rural District Councils Act Chapter 29.13 as provided by the constitution. It is bestored with wide ranging administrative and legislative powers over their respective juri ...

offices as well as a district hospital.

Economy

In 2010 business started booming in Mvuma, taking advantage of highway users. Chicken Slice, a fast food outlet and Unique Rama, a truckstop and restaurant, were opened. In 2013 a complex housing banks and lodges was commissioned improving the livelihoods by creating employment for the locals. Mvuma Art and Craft Centre is on the western side of the A4 a short distance north of Chicken Slice. A range of stone sculptures is sold to passing motorists.

References

Populated places in Midlands Province {{Zimbabwe-geo-stub