"Gold fever leaves trail of destruction in Zimbabwe", 17 April 2017

Thousands of unemployed Zimbabweans have turned to illegal gold panning in a bid to survive the country's deteriorating economy, leaving a trail of destruction that has alarmed farmers, timber plantation owners and the country's environmental authorities....Deep tunnels have been dug beneath roads, railways and buildings in the Kwekwe area of the Midlands province. In some parts of Manicaland province, waterways have been diverted and roads destroyed...In Tarka Forest, a timber estate owned by Allied Timbers in Chimanimani district, more than 600 hectares of prime timber have been damaged to make way for the illegal digs, according to company executives. Manicaland's minister of provincial affairs, Mandi Chimene, said in February that illegal gold mining in Tarka Forest had reached "alarming levels", and resulted in the pollution of streams and rivers, and destruction of standing timber. "What is happening in Tarka (Forest) is shocking," Chimene said. "We wonder who is benefiting from the illegal gold because as a country, we are not. Such gold is not going to the legal market."