Ethical Gold Mining in Zambia
Mining with Integrity for a Better Future
WE CARE ABOUT CLIMATE AND PEOPLE.
Our approach avoids harmful chemicals and focuses on a net positive impact for both people and planet.
Our ultra-fine base material (0.07–0.4 mm) contains natural rock dust, offering excellent structure, water retention, and nutrient efficiency without costly additives. Combined with biochar, compost and microorganisms, TerraNova restores depleted land and supports sustainable farming.
What was once waste becomes a carbon-positive, high-performance soil – ethical, ecological, and profitable.
A patent application secures the uniqueness of our process. In Zambia, TerraNova is distributed free of charge to local farmers. Surplus crops are sold via a secured offtaker, generating income while boosting food security. And since only a small part of our licensed land is used for mining, large areas can be repurposed for regenerative agriculture.
Eastern Region:
Chongwe, Mkushi, Petauke, Chadiza
Northern Region:
Serenje, Chinsali, Chama, Mpika, Mansa
North-Western Region:
Kasempa, Mufumbwe, Kobompo
At Bootup, we believe that true leadership is not built on control, but on loyalty.
Loyalty unites people, sustains purpose, and carries vision through every challenge. It is the invisible bond that allows individuals to stand together — in trust, in service, and in the shared belief that progress belongs to all.
For us, loyalty is more than a value; it is the foundation of our culture. It guides every decision — from the mine site to the boardroom, from local communities to national partnerships.
When loyalty leads, people rise — and with them, entire regions and generations rise as well.
This is the spirit of Bootup:
To lead with integrity, to serve with loyalty, and to build a nation where unity gives birth to prosperity.
Where loyalty leads, people rise.
Team
Loyalty leads. People rise.
Michel Mwamba Gschwendtner
Founder & President
Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
Leopold Gschwendtner
Shareholder - Director
Unwavering Perspicacity Coupled with absolute Indefatigability.
Jomo Nyirenda
Shareholder - Managing Director
Leadership is not claimed, it’s proven in vision, courage, and consistency.
Russell Read
Chairman of the Finance Committee
Transforming the world’s use of resources through sustainable infrastructure.
James Matches
Guardian & Relationshipment
Guided by faith. Committed to protect. United in God’s purpose.
Fikrat Mammadov
Production Process
A person is like the sun that breaks through the darkness
Charles W. Nyirenda
Gold Operation
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
Murad Sultanov
Machinery
No two things have been combined better than knowledge and patience.
Richard Schmidt
General Council
Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
Paul Lupunga
Community
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.
Michael J. Bräuer
Administration
Knowledge is one half, belief is the other.
Shutai Zhang
Procurement
A team is the foundation upon which grand visions become tangible realities.
Aishi Adhikary
Chief Executive Assistant
Past is a history, future is a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why it's called present. So enjoy your present.
Christopher Banda
License Partner
Our partnership is more than business — it is a bond built under God’s grace. We work as one family, guided by trust, transparency, and a shared vision to rise higher together, step by step, in every moment and every mission.
Steven Nkando - Copy
License Partner
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
Sam Sichilalu
Mining Construction
Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.
Oliver Haeggberg
Geology & Reporting
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
Elmar Grandy
Gold Trading & LBMA
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Jesco von Puttkamer
Blockchain
To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.
Stone Vaasa
Machinery Procurement
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
Erik F. Schwinge
Terra Nova - Relationshipment
Cheerfulness is neither dalliance nor complacency, it is the highest knowledge and love, it is the affirmation of all reality. Being awake at the edge of all depths and abysses. It is the secret of beauty and the very substance of all art.
Björn Schürenberg
Litigation Finance
Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.
We build what others don’t dare to imagine.
Our vision is not born from comfort – it is shaped by the raw reality of life.
We’ve known what it means to start from nothing, to carry weight no child should carry, to rise through darkness.
That’s why our vision is clear:
To create a world where value is shared, not hoarded. Where those who build, also reap.
We are building systems that empower – not exploit.
We are designing opportunities that lift – not trap.
And we are doing it with those who were never invited to the table – by building our own table.
Bootup Africa exists to unlock potential – in people, in land, in legacy.
Not for one. Not for few. But for the many who still wait to be seen.
We are here to transform realities – starting with our own.
And we will not stop until well-being, dignity, and ownership are no longer rare, but normal.
That’s not a dream.
That’s our promise.
Impact
what is invisible to others.
Our DNA – Forged in Fire
"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others"
We are not a company. We are a story of survival.
Our founder didn’t read about hardship – he lived it.
Adopted at the age of eight. Raised through storms most men don’t recover from.
And yet: He chose not bitterness, but vision.
Not control, but trust. Not greed, but sharing.
We have no polished origin story.
We have scars.
But that’s exactly why we stand.
Our DNA was not built in comfort – it was forged in fire.
We faced betrayal, hunger, breakdowns.
But through every fall, we rose tighter, stronger, clearer.
And from day one, Bootup Africa was never about one man.
It was about creating space for others to rise too.
While others fight over one nut,
we bring the whole bowl – and make sure everyone gets more than one.
Jomo said it best:
“Others divide one nut among many. We bring the bowl and feed the tribe.”
That’s our deal.
We don’t lead to win – we lead so others can win too.
We don’t harvest alone – we plant with others, and reap together.
Only one rule: We rise together – or not at all.
That’s why Bootup Africa stands.
And that’s why it cannot fall.