OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

This is Zones UF1-UF4 of Area C (ZSG, 1984). The Mupfure River is a major tributary of the Sanyati River (see
Section 3.9; Figure 3.2).
3.30.1.2 Geology
See Figure 3.6 (ZGS, 1999). The sub-catchment is generally underlain by crystalline rocks: granitic terrain
southeast of Chegutu, the Midlands Greenstone Belt in the Chegutu – Chakari area, Magondi Supergroup
metasediments and gneisses in the area around Chirau and Chigaro. The Great Dyke cuts north to south
across the sub-catchment, through Kutama and Selous. An outlier of Upper Karoo sediments underlies the
area south of Beatrice.
3.30.1.3 Pedology, agriculture and land use
Soils in the sub-catchment can be divided into six groups:
• Very shallow, gravelly soils in the lower Mupfure valley;
• Moderately shallow hydromorphic silty clay loams, derived from the Magondi rocks;
• Moderately deep kaolinitic sandy clay loams and deep kaolinitic clays formed from Greenstone Belt rocks;
• Moderately shallow sands and loamy sands, formed from Upper Karoo sediments;
• Moderately shallow, coarse grained sandy, kaolinitic soils derived from granites, sodic in places; and
• Deep clays on the Great Dyke (DRSS, 1979).
The lower Mupfure valley lies within Natural Region III: high rainfall and deep soils; the upper Mupfure valley is
within Region IIb: high rainfall of up to 1000mm per annum and deep soils (ZSG, 1997; Surveyor General and
AGRITEX, 1998).
Land use is mainly commercial farming, private and resettlement land with Communal Lands in the southeast
(ZSG, 1998). Farming is generally intensive cash crops or livestock production.
The major settlements are Chegutu and Chakari Towns, with settlements along the road and rail link between
Kadoma and Harare.
3.30.1.4 Surface water users
Chegutu and Chakari Towns draw water from the Mupfure River. Irrigation by commercial agriculture is a major
water user.
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