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800 percent hike in mining fees vexes miners

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800 percent hike in mining fees vexes miners

THE recent hike in mining fees has irked small scale miners countrywide, with the Zimbabwe Federation of Miners (ZMF) pleading with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to reconsider its decision.

ZMF, the biggest miners’ representative body has noted that the increase will force some miners to engage in underhand mining which will prejudice the country of mineral revenue.

The Ministry on Thursday issued Statutory Instrument 44 of 2021 where it announced an 800 percent hike in fees.

The fees are pegged against the US$.

Miners under the ZMF banner said the increase was unaffordable.

ZMF president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya has said their organisation was going to take the matter up with Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando, who is also the organisation’s patron.

“The Zimbabwe Miners Federation has noted with concern the newly gazetted prices in accordance with Statutory Instrument (SI) 44 of 2021.

“We are treating the matter with utmost urgency.

“The fees are too prohibitive for the majority of our miners and are likely to lead to forfeitures and forcing them into illegal mining.”

The ZMF president advised miners that a meeting with Minister Chitando was being sought so as to find ways to reach an amicable solution.

Previously, an ordinary prospecting licence cost RTGS$1 000 but has been raised to US$100 (RTGS$8 300).

A special prospecting licence is now pegged at US$750 while an application for revocation of forfeiture is now US$1 000.

The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development gazetted the application for a mining lease at US$2 000, while that for a special mining lease costs US$5 000. SI 44 of 2021 states that for one to register as an approved prospector they have to pay US$4 000.

The Sunday News

NDS1 to enhance investment in mining value addition

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NDS1 to enhance investment in mining value addition

The government is planning to invest in the value addition of minerals in a bid to create more jobs as well as increasing foreign currency earnings.

By Shantel Chisango

Working towards the 2030 Vision, through The National Development Strategy (NDS1) government says it is determined to enhance the mining sector by investing towards exploration, beneficiation, and value addition of minerals.

“NDS1 is going to enhance investment in mining towards exploration, beneficiation and value addition of minerals including levelling the field to accommodate small scale miners will create more jobs and increase foreign currency earnings for the country,” the government said on their Twitter handle.

NDS1 is a strategy used towards attaining the objectives of Vision 2030 and it is the first 5-year Medium Term Plan aimed at realising the country’s Vision 2030, while simultaneously addressing the global aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2063.

The NDS1 is premised on four critical guiding principles. The first is a recognition that bold and transformative measures are required to underpin the drive towards the attainment of our Vision 2030. Slow and incremental change will not deliver the transformation that the people of Zimbabwe deserve.

Fidelity official gold buying prices Friday 19 February 2021

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Fidelity official gold buying prices Friday 19 February 2021

Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) official gold buying prices Friday 19 February 2021

  • SG 90% AND ABOVE $51.02/g
  • SG ABOVE 85% BUT BELOW 90% $50.16/g
  • SG ABOVE 80% BUT BELOW 85% $49.02/g
  • SG ABOVE 75% BUT BELOW 80% $48.45/g
  • SAMPLE BELOW 10g BUT ABOVE 5g $49.59/g
  • FIRE ASSAY CASH $51.30/g

Cash available. Fidelity Printers and Refiners prices will be changing daily in relation to world market prices.

Contact FPR

No. 1 George Drive, Msasa, Harare, Email: [email protected], Telephone: +263 242-486670, +263 242-486694, +263 242-487131, +263 242-447810-5

ZMF appeals for temporary reprieve over mining fees increase

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ZMF appeals for temporary reprieve over mining fees increase

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Ms. Henrietta Rushwaya yesterday announced that the ZMF has appealed for temporary reprieve from the Mines and Mining Development Minister Hon Winston Chitando in a bid to address the recently gazetted prices in accordance with statutory instrument SI 44 of 2021.

Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

In a statement, Rushwaya said the 800% fee hike was too prohibitive for most of the miners which will likely lead to forfeitures and breed illegal mining.

“ZMF has noted with concern the newly gazetted prices in accordance with statutory instrument SI 44 of 2021. We are treating the matter with utmost urgency  and have started engaging the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.”

“The fees are too prohibitive for the majority of our miners and are likely to lead to forfeitures and forcing them into illegal Mining activities.”

“Kindly bear with us as we seek redress from our Minister and Patron Honourable Winston Chitando for a temporary reprieve until an amicable solution is reached,” said Rushwaya in a statement.

The SI 44 of 2021 created pandemonium in the ASM sector with miners expressing anger at the astronomical hike which many construed as a way of sidelining small players.

Below are some comments from Miners and professionals from the mining groups:-

“Licences and Permits ought to be regulatory & administrative not revenue options.”

“Yah it’s just a way of booting out small fish from the field. With EPOs all over the country, the big fish are just finding a way of taking over from the small-scale miners. They know many won’t be able to pay the fees. In the midst of the pandemic, miners were not expecting this. Now that it will cost up to US$2000 to get a mining claim including peggers. Then for one to operate will need several licences EMA & Explosive permits, PPE for workers then inputs and equipment if all added one would need at least US$5000 for a small start-up. An indigenous miner in this economy?

This will now increase corruption & gold illicit flows because people will start to mine without papers & sell to the black market more. The mines guys will come for inspections find people without papers then deal corruptly and leave them, the flora & fauna will do the same,” one miner said.

“The question that must be answered is, did the Minister exercise his discretion reasonably and justiciously? another said.

“Ministry is not private property they MUST explain to the stakeholders,” another suggested.

“What will happen is legal pegger will raise their fees. And illegal peggers will become popular. Then even more disputes will occur because they don’t know their jobs. And in the end more chaos in the industry,” one said.

“I’d love to hear from the Ministry and ZMF officials here on this group. How are you going to ensure that Zimbabweans are not locked out of the system with this pricing? And to be clear, of course, you have to have higher fees in order to have the whole industry and Ministry of Mines work better. And yet, what concrete steps are you undertaking to make sure that ordinary Zimbabweans can partake in this nation’s wealth? A Nortonian asked.

Rushwaya’s statement brought relief to miners and praise to “Madam President” as she is popularly known in the mining circles.

Redwing Mine workers demand Madondo removal

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Redwing Mine workers demand Madondo removal

Redwing Mine workers have lost confidence in their corporate rescue practitioner, Dr Cecil Madondo, who is facing criminal charges, and want him immediately replaced.

Metallon Corporation-owned Redwing, was placed under Dr Madondo’s control in July last year after an application by the workers.

Secretary general of Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Union secretary general Justice Chinhema, said in an interview that the process of looking another corporate rescue practitioner was underway.

“What we have agreed on is that we need to look for another corporate rescue practitioner who can safeguard the interest of the workers and the company,” said Chinhema.

“Our lawyer was at the office of Master of the High Court looking at the list of rescue practitioners so that we can do our selection. That will probably happen on Monday.”

Chinhema said at the time, the company was placed under corporate rescue management, it had 800 workers owed about US$14 million backdated to 2012.

“We want all the money outstanding paid in full while the security of our workers is safeguarded,” said Chinhema.

Redwing Mine is located in Manicaland province in the east of Zimbabwe, about 20 kilometres northeast of the city of Mutare and 265 kilometres southeast of Harare. It used to be one of the largest gold producers in country.

Its parent company, Metallon used to be the largest producer of gold in the country. Apart from Redwing, it owns How Mine near Bulawayo. Shamva Mine was sold to Kuvimba Mining House, jointly owned by the Government and a private investor.

About corporate rescue

The Insolvency Act (Chapter 6:07), in line with international norms and standards prescribes two gateways to entry into corporate rescue and supervision namely voluntary procedure and compulsory produce.

In terms of S122 a company can resolve to voluntarily commence corporate rescue while in terms of S124 an affected person may apply to court for an order placing a company under supervision and corporate rescue.

Voluntary corporate rescue proceedings are launched by the company passing a resolution to begin corporate rescue proceeding and place the company under supervision. The voluntary gateway seems to be the most important and progressive of the two as it is launched by the board, which has all the information at its disposal to timeously act at the onset of financial distress as success of corporate rescue largely depends on early interventions secondly, the voluntary route is cheaper as it requires no court process and the associated pitfalls of protracted legal battles.

Business Weekly

Shifting away from coal, those days are never coming back

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Shifting away from coal, those days are never coming back

A photograph in the entrance hall at Komati Power Station shows the plant in better times, its nine generating units belching steam and smoke into the night sky.

Those days are never coming back: Komati’s sole remaining working unit is facing closure within two years under plans by state power utility Eskom Holdings to shut about a quarter of its coal-fired capacity by 2030. Next door at the Goedehoop mine, arrays of solar panels line the main access road, a sign of what may be to come for South Africa’s coal belt. For decades, almost all the electricity needed to power Africa’s most industrialised economy has been produced by a fleet of ageing coal-fired plants constructed alongside the mines to the east of Johannesburg. That’s made the province of Mpumalanga, in which Komati is located, one of the most coal-dependent and polluted regions on Earth.

Decommissioning those plants is essential if President Cyril Ramaphosa is to meet a commitment to reach net-zero carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050, and yet the closures also put tens of thousands of jobs at risk. Potentially destabilising anywhere, in South Africa it’s a recipe for dangerous economic and political upheaval that’s prompted the government and industry to sign on to the concept of a “just energy transition” — an attempt to create new employment and win public buy-in for the impending change. “If you look at some of these communities, they have been dependent on the power station and, in some cases, mining for many many decades, generations,” said Mandy Rambharos, head of Eskom’s Just Energy Transition office.

“You can’t just lock the door, throw away the keys and walk away.”

South Africa’s current plans are still “highly insufficient” to help meet global climate goals, according to Climate Action Tracker, which provides independent scientific analysis. And with South Africa yet to submit an updated set of climate commitments ahead of the United Nations COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November, the government is under pressure to set more ambitious goals.

The lack of certainty over the future is unsettling for those on the front line who must shoulder the burden of change.

They include Cathy Mkhuma, who was born in Komati and now represents it as a local government councillor for the ruling African National Congress. Mkhuma (36) has witnessed the town’s demise up close: Her father worked as a gardener for Eskom, which started generating electricity in the town in 1961.

In that time, “it has changed from best to worst,” she said as she stood next to a drab community library, across the road from abandoned sports facilities that Eskom once paid for.

“There’s nothing left.”

South Africa’s challenge in filling that void is one that’s confronting coal belts from Pennsylvania to Poland, China and Australia as pressure increases to eradicate a fossil fuel that is the single biggest contributor to global climate change. While the economic and environmental logic points to the shift away from coal, the political will to make it happen can be harder to summon because of the need to mitigate the impact of job losses. — Bloomberg.

Female artisanal miner dies in shaft

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Female artisanal miner dies in shaft

A female gold panner from Guyu in Matabeleland South Province died on the spot while her colleague escaped unharmed when a shaft they were working in at the bank of Mlalakgomo River collapsed, trapping her.

Police said the deceased Sithembiso Sibanda (44) and her neighbour Sandiso Sibanda (31) both of Gobathema village in Guyu went to prospect for gold in a shaft on Wednesday.

After working for some hours inside the shaft, the duo started filling gold ore into empty bags of cement.

Police said Sandiso then took the bags outside the shaft to another point leaving her colleague underground. When she returned, she discovered that the shaft had collapsed, trapping her colleague inside and she died. The woman managed to retrieve the body. A police report was made and the body was taken to Gwanda District Hospital for postmortem. Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Inspector Loveness Mangena confirmed the tragic incident.

She warned people against extracting gold without a licence as they put their lives at risk.

“We urge members of the public to stop illegal panning especially during this rainy season as this puts human life at risk,” said Insp Mangena.

Late last month, five illegal artisanal miners were trapped and died after the gold shaft they were working in collapsed at Elvingston Mine near Chegutu in Mashonaland West Province.

In a similar case, another panner was trapped by rubble when a shaft he was operating from collapsed at Montekai mining site near Sabi Mine in Zvishavane. His body was retrieved three days later.

 

The Chronicle

BREAKING: Mining fees up by more than 800 per cent

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BREAKING: Mining fees up by more than 800 per cent

The Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando has in terms of section 403 of the Mines and Minerals Act [Chapter 21:05] raised mining fees by over 800 percent pegging the fees against the United States Dollar.

By Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

An Ordinary prospecting licence that was previously pegged at RTGS$1000,00 has been raised to US$100,00 about RTGS$8 300 according to the current interbank rate an upward percent of over 800 while a Special prospecting licence is now going for US$750,00.

Application for revocation of forfeiture is now US$1 000,00, while an application for an EPO (Non-refundable) is now US$2 000,00. Application for a mining lease (Non-refundable) US$2 000,00; application for a special mining lease is now pegged at US$5 000,00 while an application for protection against forfeiture is now going for US$100,00. The minister also pegged an application for a special grant to mine part XX (non-refundable) to US$2 000,00 while duplicate Prospecting Licence is now going for US$100,00.

REGISTRATIONS

Registration as an approved prospector valid for 5 years is now US$4 000,00 and the registration fee for base minerals (Special block) is now US$750,00 while registration for toll elution plants US$1 000,00.

Registration for a special grant – Part XIX is now US 000,00 and registration to mine base minerals (Ordinary block) US0,00 while Registration to deal in Precious Stones (Valid for 5 years) has been pegged at US 000,00.

Duplicate Certificate of Registration is now pegged at US$150,00; Registration of a mining lease at US$5 000,00; Application for registration of precious metal block US$200,00; Registration of precious stones blocks is now US$200,00; Registration fee for a Site is now at US$50,00 while registration of a special mining lease is now at US$10 000,00.

Download new fees below

S.I. 44 of 2020 Mining (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 (No. 24)

ZIMPLATS names Kudzanayi Manyonganise as the accident victim

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ZIMPLATS names Kudzanayi Manyonganise as the accident victim

ZIMPLATS has named the victim of the Highwall collapse that occurred on the 14th of February as Mr. Kudzanayi Manyonganise.

Kudzanayi Manyonganise a contractor with Eazi Access lost his life whilst retrieving equipment. In a statement, the Platium giant announced that it offered its full support and is working closely with Mr. Manyonganise’s family and his employer during this difficult time.

Below is the statement in full;

“Zimplats regrets to report a fatal injury when a high wall collapsed at its Ngwarati Mine box-cut on Sunday, 14 February 2021.

The board of directors and management team have extended their sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Kudzanayi Manyonganise.

Mr Manyonganise was an employee of Eazi Access, a contractor company at the mine, and was retrieving equipment at the time of the incident. A full investigation into the incident is currently underway.

Zimplats has offered its full support and is working closely with Mr Manyonganise’s family and his employer during this difficult time.

The Zimplats board of directors and management team remain committed to ensuring a safe working environment at all its operations.”

First Quantum sees no ‘contagion’ risk in Zambia after Mopani deal – COO

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First Quantum sees no ‘contagion’ risk in Zambia after Mopani deal – COO

Reuters: First Quantum Minerals sees no risk of nationalization in Zambia following the sale last month of Mopani Copper Mines to the country’s mining investment arm ZCCM-IH, the Canadian miner’s chief operating officer, Tristan Pascall, said on Wednesday.

“We don’t see any contagion or any element or risk in that more broadly in Zambia,” he said on a call.
Zambia became Africa’s first pandemic-era sovereign default in November, but ZCCM-IH in January agreed to take on $1.5 billion in debt for Glencore’s Mopani stake, making it the sole owner of the mine.

ZCCM-IH has said it expects to find a new investor for Mopani by the end of the year as it looks to boost copper output from a little more than 34,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes.

First Quantum, which previously held 16.9% of Mopani, operates the Kansanshi and Sentinel mines in the country.

The miner aims to resolve talks with the Zambian government over expansion of the smelter at Kansanshi before August elections, Pascall said. First Quantum wants a deal that allows it to deduct royalties from costs, he said.

He said efforts to sell minority stakes in the Zambia mines continue, but the company has to take rising copper prices into account.

“That’s the challenge for copper producers looking to embark in M&A,” he said.

(By Jeff Lewis; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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