A MUTOKO Regional Magistrates Court has convicted Reajin Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, owned by Chinese national Zheng Zhangxian, for the systematic theft of over 5 000 tonnes of gold ore.
The company was ordered to pay US$875 667,67 in restitution to small-scale miner Emmanuel Ndemera, following a multi-year investigation detailed in Mines and Mining Development ministry documents and court records.
The scheme involved Reajin Enterprises operating through the local Takura Mining Syndicate, which held a claim adjacent to Ndemera’s Koodoo 83 block in Makaha.
A ministry survey in May 2023 discovered a haulage tunnel extending 75 meters into Ndemera’s claim, with significant stoping activity, confirming deliberate underground encroachment.
The Mines ministry provided crucial evidence, with a September 2023 letter from provincial mining director T Kashiri to the police explicitly stating that Takura Mining Syndicate had “encroached and mined underground” into Ndemera’s claim.
The stolen ore was processed at the Zhangveng Milling Plant. A court-ordered valuation mission in January 2024 faced initial obstruction from Reajin officials before police secured access.
Samples from the ore dump yielded an average grade of 3,5 grammes per tonne, leading to the nearly US$876 000 valuation.
A parallel corruption case saw Mines ministry inspector Antony Singende dismissed in November 2024 after being found guilty of accepting a US$350 bribe from Ndemera’s manager in a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) sting operation.
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Further ministry letters revealed Zheng was operating through an irregular “syndicate” structure with a local partner, violating laws requiring foreign investors to be cleared by the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency and to form formal companies.
The court’s ruling on September 8, 2025, convicted Reajin Mine of theft of gold ore, imposing a US$3 000 fine and the major restitution order.
The case sets a significant precedent for protecting small-scale miners’ rights and underscores the legal and financial risks of corrupt investment practices in Zimbabwe’s mining sector.
