Mvuma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mvuma is a small mining town in Midlands province in Zimbabwe.

Coordinates: 19°17′S 30°32′E / 19.283°S 30.533°E / -19.283; 30.533

Located 192 km south of Harare along the Harare - Masvingo highway. Approx 100 km from Masvingo. 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 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.

There are huge cyanide dumps around the town as a by-product from the gold mining. Now dominated by cattle ranching 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 offices as well as a district hospital.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.