MUTAPA Gold Resources has recorded onemillion fatality-free shifts at its Freda Rebecca Gold Mine, a milestone the company says underscores improvements in safety culture and operational discipline at the Mashonaland Central province operation.
The achievement, announced this week, covers a 455-day period with no work-related deaths across the mine’s workforce. A congratulatory graphic released by the company featured standard mining PPE — a yellow hard hat bearing the Mutapa Gold Resources logo, safety goggles, gloves and steel-toe boots — with the tagline “Investing in tomorrow”.
Mutapa Gold Resources (Freda Rebecca) chief executive officer Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya said the record reflects a turnaround in safety performance.
“Since February 2025, all people working at Freda Rebecca, 2 200 including employees of companies contracted to the company, have worked 1,3 million shifts with no death recorded from accidents at work,” he said.
“However, from October 2022 to February 2025 the mine sadly lost four colleagues from accidents at work.
“So, achieving 455 days or 1,3 million shifts with no fatal accident at work is a major achievement for Mutapa Gold Resources’ Freda Rebecca division.
“Zero Harm is our goal and we are celebrating this milestone to reinforce the good collective and individual actions taken by Freda Rebecca employees that made this possible.”
Freda Rebecca is one of Zimbabwe’s established gold mines, located near Bindura.
Like other producers, it has faced pressure to improve safety standards as output ramps up to meet government targets for mineral exports.
In mining, a million fatality-free shifts is a widely used benchmark for sustained safety performance, typically representing millions of man-hours without a fatal incident.
Mutapa Gold Resources operates as the gold-focused subsidiary of the Mutapa Investment Fund, Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund.
The company was formed in 2025 when Mutapa Investment Fund restructured its mining portfolio into five commodity-specific units: Gold, Base Metals, Energy Minerals, Platinum Group, and Frontier.
Mutapa Investment Fund took over Freda Rebecca and other State-owned mining assets after President Emmerson Mnangagwa renamed the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe in September 2023 and transferred ownership of 20 State-owned enterprises to the fund. The restructuring was intended to improve focus, reduce a “conglomerate discount” and unlock capital for expansion.
Under Mutapa Investment Fund, Mutapa Gold Resources produced 3,6 tonnes of gold in 2025 and is seeking US$250 million to extend mine life and double output within five years.
The fund’s 2025 results showed Mineral Resources as a core earnings pillar, with total comprehensive income rising to US$1.4 billion on fair value gains in mining assets. The safety milestone comes as Mutapa Investment Fund pushes to professionalise operations across its portfolio and attract domestic and international capital for beneficiation and industrialisation. – (Newsday)
