The Msitwe River starts in the foothills of the Great Dyke Mountain Range in Mutorashanga, Zimbabwe. This river meanders through old farms and forests, changing its name along the way to the Zambezi and then ultimately out to sea. A multitude of civilians rely on this river for basic needs and livelihoods. At the source, where the soil is responsible for collecting the limited rains, alluvial mining is taking place. Alluvial mining is the practice of excavating soil and removing it to extract whatever minerals are desirable. Usually this soil needs to be brought back to the site by the miners, but seldom does this happen due to the cost of transporting it. There are tens of thousands of hectares treated this way. Forests are cleared, rivers are dammed to collect water to wash mined soil, and soil is removed from where it belongs.