Mining Media Awards open for entries

STAFF WRITER

The 2025 edition of the Mining Media Awards is now open for entries, organisers Minex have announced. Submissions will run from September 16 to October 17, with the awards ceremony scheduled for November 21 at the Crowne Plaza in Harare.

This year marks the 12th edition of the awards, which will run under the theme “Stories of Growth and Sustainability.” The theme underscores the importance of responsible reporting in mining, linking economic growth to sustainability and community development.

Minex Chairman, Munyaradzi Hwengwere, said the awards were created to highlight the role of journalists in shaping the mining story.

“We must realise that all matters of development and growth are stories to be told. Sometimes we see development as detached from the people in the communities and yet, whenever we utilise resources, we’re doing so for the betterment of communities, for a better life for individuals,” Hwengwere said.

He stressed that the role of journalists in narrating the mining story is central to connecting resources, investors, and communities.

“That means the storytellers are the ones that link resources to investors and to communities. The Mining Media Awards were created to tell the mining story in ways that say mining is good for your tomorrow. So mining growth is good, but mining also must be done in ways that ensure communities and the environment don’t suffer. That’s essentially that, and the centre of that story is the media practitioner. It is the journalist,” he said.

Hwengwere said Minex had entered into partnerships with the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the Association of Mining Journalists of Zimbabwe to strengthen the ecosystem that supports quality mining reportage.

“Last year, and in our previous years of hosting the Mining Media Awards, the media have said, please recognise us better because we’re a critical part. And we’ve sought, as the Mining Media Awards, to do that. This year, we’re making a commitment to do better than we’ve done the previous year to reward the storytellers,” he said.

He added that the awards seek to enhance their value and impact, particularly in driving the conversation on how mining contributes to economic growth and community well-being.

“But this is a conversation we need to have with those who support the mining media. Just as well, we underline the importance of storytelling in the growth of the economy, anchored by mining, as well as addressing issues of sustainability, and to link that with communities,” Hwengwere said.