Africa has been challenged to be vigilant in its negotiations with foreign investors to ensure that all
mining deals are beneficial to the continent.
At the same time, there is a need to create a conducive environment to attract investment to Africa.
This was said by Natty Davies, a former chairperson of the National Investment Commission of Liberia at the inaugural Africa Forum on Mining that is underway in Accra, Ghana.
The event that kick-started on 13 November will end on 16 November.
“We need to strike a balance in our negotiations for mining contracts,” said Davies, who is now the cochairperson of CONNEX Support Unit Advisory Committee, an independent international organization that provides assistance to governments of developing and emerging countries in negotiating, renegotiating or implementing large-scale, complex investment contracts, particularly in the extractive sector.
He said fair negotiations have the capacity to produce win-win situations for both the owners of the mineral resources as well as the investors, as opposed to the current state of affairs where most mining deals tend to favour foreign investors.
He challenged African countries to be aware of the exact quality and quantity of their mineral resources so that there are not short-changed in their negotiations.
Another critical aspect of negotiations is to develop vibrant legal policy frameworks that clearly dene the space in which sustainable management of the resource sector could take place.
“If a country has a good mineral and mining regulatory environment, then negotiations are easier as everyone is speaking on similar terms,” he said.
However, Davies noted that “no two mining contracts are the same,” hence it was also critical to not
compromise some of the demands that may be proposed by investors.
“Africa should also not be afraid to put across its demands,” he said, adding that the governments must not hesitate to use words such as “foreigners” or “outsiders” in some of the contracts to stamp their authority since they own the minerals.
Once the mining contracts are signed, he said an important process is to ensure that the agreement
is fully implemented.
As such, it was critical to invest in developing vibrant national implementation agencies that monitor and promote the smooth implementation of mining contracts.
“After investing so much time in negotiations, the same amount of time should focus on implementation so that the citizens benet,” Davies said.
The inaugural Africa Forum on Mining, which is running under the theme “Africa Mining Vision at 10: looking back, moving forward” aims to take stock on how the continent could fully utilize its mineral resources to nance its development agenda.
The meeting is organized by the African Union Commission in collaboration with various partners
such as UNECA, UNDP, AfDB and the Ghana Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources_263 Chat
Zimbabwe may have lost between 30 tonnes and 34 tonnes of gold to smuggling in neighbouring South Africa due to unfriendly mining policies that need urgent addressing, a government minister has said.
The development comes at a time when all the players in the gold sector are calling for the upward review of foreign currency retention levels to prevent arbitrage opportunities which lead to rampant smuggling.
“When we spoke to our colleagues in South Africa at the Rand Refinery in Cape Town, we saw a jewellery shop, they said that’s all your gold from Zimbabwe. A total of between 30 and 34 tonnes are smuggled into South Africa,” Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said at the breakfast meeting organised by the Daily News and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.
“We will have a discussion with the [RBZ] Governor [John Mangudya] in terms of output and retention percentages to enable gold miners to sell their gold through proper channels. In terms of the gold output, we have seen some leakages but we are seeing [gold] production is actually going up.
“But the deliveries have been going down at Fidelity Printers because of leakages in the sector, which we are finding a way to plug so that output is accounted for in the formal sector,” the Finance Minister explained, adding that most smugglers go to South Africa as there is a rebate which attracts miners to sell gold.”
Ncube also said the country should come up with policies that encouraged miners to sell gold through the formal channels. Gold is now the highest single foreign currency earner in the country, ahead of tobacco. But gold’s subdued performance continues to shatter any hope of economic turnaround.
Since the RBZ decided on 55% forex retention in February this year, various gold miners have smuggled their produce to lucrative markets such as South Africa. The average price of gold is US$41 000 per kg, but with the 55% forex retention threshold, a miner will get around US$22 500 with the 45% being paid in Zimbabwean dollars.
Meanwhile illegal gold dealers pay around US$35 000 per kg. During the US$12bn roadmap mining conference yesterday, miners said gold production had not decreased as was said but they were diverting the yellow metal to informal channels to continue producing. Gold deliveries in Zimbabwe plummeted 19% to 2.80 tonnes in September, from 3.47 tonnes during the same period last year due to power outages, inefficient mining and processing technologies in use, foreign currency shortages, and suspected smuggling.
Cumulatively, gold deliveries decreased 26% to 20.63 tonnes during the first nine months of 2019, from 28.09 tonnes during the comparative period last year due to policy inconsistency in the forex retention threshold.
Mangudya has said the monetary authorities would soon discuss the win-win forex retention threshold with miners to woo them to sell to the formal channels in Zimbabwe.
“The country is losing a considerable amount of gold and revenue through smuggling via our porous borders but measures are in place to encourage miners to sell gold through Fidelity Printers and Refiners to boost exports,” Mangudya said. “Our door is still open for discussion as far as forex retention is concerned.”
Fradreck Kunaka, the general manager of Fidelity Printers and Refiners, said the country was now pinning hopes on new gold centres and small scale facilities to increase production.
Experts say the established mining companies with huge capital may be heavily involved in smuggling as they continue to be dominated by less-organised small scale producers who do not have basic machinery for mining. Zimbabwe is targeting 100 tonnes of gold per year by 2023, a figure which would increase the sector’s earnings to US$12bn a year.
Winston Chitando, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, said yesterday that gold (at US$4bn by 2023) would be the leading mineral in the hunt for the US$12bn mining economy that the government wants to create, followed by platinum with US$3bn_Business Times
GOVERNMENT has set aside $8,4 billion for the rehabilitation and expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station while it will support the use of alternative sources of energy through provision of several fiscal incentives for the importation of equipment.
Presenting his 2020 national budget in Harare yesterday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said Zesa will mobilise the local currency component with the Government providing the foreign currency.
This came out after legislators grilled Independent Power Producers for failing to take off despite being licensed several years ago. “The 2020 Budget seeks to alleviate power supply constraints through the following strategies, rehabilitation, and expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station, $8.4 billion. We will support alternative sources of energy such as solar power projects through various fiscal incentives relating to importation of equipment and respective accessories,” said Prof Ncube. “20 IPP solar projects are already lined up for implementation. While Zesa will raise the local resource component through cost recovery tariff model, Government through the RBZ will assist to mobilise the requisite foreign currency from the market.”
He said there was a need for improved electricity supply through imports and other alternative sources of energy. “These include harnessing of emergency power generation capacity from Independent Power Projects,” he said.
“Infrastructure investments play a key role in enhancing competitiveness including growth. Underfunded and neglected infrastructure services results in the economy performing in a highly inefficient manner.”_The Chronicles
Zimbabwe will vigorously enforce a policy to force companies to develop their mining assets and not keep the land for speculative purposes, mines minister Winston Chitando said on Wednesday.
Chitando said some investors had not developed gold and platinum assets that they had held dating back to the 1960s and the mines ministry had asked some companies to justify why they should keep their claims to those assets.
“This is to prohibit the holding of mining title for speculative purposes. We will deal with that more vigorously,” Chitando told a meeting of the mining industry in Harare.
Chitando said the government had been lax in enforcing the “use it or lose it” policy but that would change as authorities pin their hopes on the sector to drive the recovery of an economy grappling with power cuts and acute shortages of U.S. dollars and fuel.
Miners have raised concerns over power cuts that have affected production and want to be allowed to keep all their foreign currency earnings because they are disadvantaged by having a proportion paid to them in Zimbabwe dollars.
But that request was shot down by central bank governor John Mangudya who told the meeting the miners could not keep all their earnings in forex because the government needed some of the money to fund crucial imports like fuel, power, and medicines.
Mining companies are only allowed to keep up to 55% of their foreign exchange sales and the central bank pays them in local currency for the balance at the official interbank rate.
Zimbabwe is home to the second-largest known platinum reserves and large lithium, gold, and diamond deposits, but many investors fret over whether they can take money out.
Chitando said platinum output was expected to rise to 1,023,000 ounces by 2023 from 917,000 ounces last year as the producers Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum Holdings and Sibanye-Stillwater ramp up output.
Zimbabwe’s platinum production now justified the setting up of base metals and precious metals refineries, Chitando said. Miners currently process their raw platinum in South Africa_Reuters
The level of financial losses that Africa continues to experience due to illegal activities and dealings in the mining sector is undermining sustainable development in the continent, Trust Africa Programmes Director Briggs Bomba has said.
Speaking at the inaugural Africa Forum on Mining held in Accra, Ghana, Bomba said African resources are being siphoned out to benet other economies while the continent remained impoverished.
“Our resources are being unjustly taken away from us to develop and improve other economies
outside Africa,” Bomba said.
He said these illicit financial flows (IFFs) deprive Africa of vital tax revenues that could be spent on social services such as healthcare, education and basic infrastructure development including road and rail.
Bomba urged African stakeholders to work together in addressing the scourge of IFFs, and ensure that African mineral resources are used to develop economies of African countries.
“We need a multi-stakeholder approach to addressing IFFs out of Africa,” he said, adding that such a collective methodology between the state and non-state actors on IFFs has the capacity to yield positive results.
A recent study commissioned by the African Union (AU) estimates that the continent has lost more than US$1.8 trillion to illicit activities between 1970 and 2008 alone, and continues to lose resources valued at up to US$150 billion annually through illicit capital flight, mainly through tax evasion, corruption, mispricing of goods and services by multi-national companies.
The inaugural Africa Forum on Mining, which is running under the theme “Africa Mining Vision at 10: looking back, moving forward” aims to take stock on how the continent could fully utilize its mineral resources to nance its development agenda.
The meeting is organized by the African Union Commission in collaboration with various partners such as UNECA, UNDP, AfDB and the Ghana Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources_263 Chat
Listed diversified miner RioZim is planning to invest US$25m on a biological oxidation plant at Cam and Motor Mine which will open by September next year as the company moves to beneficiate its precious minerals to generate more foreign currency.
RioZim, which has been suffering from forex shortages as most businesses in the country, said the biological oxidation plant would only be achieved if the company got the foreign currency to complete the project.
The setting up of the plant will help to process pure oxide ores to make good grades and high recoveries. RioZim chief executive Bhekinkosi Nkomo told Business Times that the company was in the process of sourcing forex to complete the plant.
“We are planning to invest an amount close to US$25m for the Cam and Motor BIOX plant to improve the processing of oxides with high-quality grades. However, the plant will only be completed if we can get the US dollars,” Nkomo said.
RioZim board chairman Saleem Beebeejaun recently said the project was underway. He said civil works were in progress and structural steel fabrications were being moved forward.
“Key suppliers and contractors have also been appointed,” Beebeejaun said.
“The plant is expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2020 as long as we are able to find foreign currency. Its absence is the biggest risk to this project.”
Cam and Motor Mine achieved 489 kg during the half-year ended June 30, 2019, a 7% growth from the 458 kg achieved the same period in 2018. The performance was on the back of the processing of pure oxide ores with good grades and high recoveries.
Beebeejaun said to guarantee continuity of oxides while the mine was in the process of constructing its BIOX plant, the company would source ore from the Group’s One Step Mine which is within the proximity of the current Cam and Motor mine processing plant.
Preparations for mining and trucking of ore from One Step are at an advanced stage. RioZim has been affected by crippling power cuts despite the firm paying for uninterrupted power supplies in US dollars.
The mine experienced power cuts in the second quarter of the year which worsened during the month of June. Renco experienced some plant breakdowns which reduced production processing time. In addition, the incessant power cuts in the second quarter of 2019 reduced gold output.
RioZim is pursuing two power projects, a 178MW solar project and an 800MW Senga Power Station in Gokwe, with surpluses expected to be fed into the national grid.
In its financials for the six months to June 30, 2019, revenues for the company grew 211% to ZWL$137m, from ZWL$44m in the comparative prior year.
The company attributed the low revenue to the decrease in gold production due to the power cuts experienced during the period under review.
The gold price firmed at US$1344 per ounce compared to US$1298 per ounce achieved last year. Profit for the period was ZWL$38.2m compared to ZWL$406,000 during the same period in 2018.
The group’s total assets grew by more than 9000% to ZWL$1.04bn during the reviewed period, from ZWL$162.1m.
The company plans to focus on exploration and invest in cutting-edge equipment to advance exploration activities both at its active and non-active mine claims_Business Times
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya has said Fidelity Printers and Refiners’ monopoly in the buying and marketing of the country’s single biggest foreign currency earner, gold, will stay, warning that liberalisation will see annual output plummeting to 4 tonnes on rampant smuggling.
This comes after the parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and Mining Development recommended the end of Fidelity Printers and Refiners’ monopoly and liberalisation of the sector to increase export earnings for the country.
“We all know that the last time the gold was liberalised production dipped to 4 tonnes and we were disqualified from London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) because we were below 10 tonnes so we have got history we know the experience,” Mangudya said at a breakfast meeting organised by Daily News and the ministry of Mines and Mining Development in Harare yesterday.
“Miners should market their gold through FPR as it refines miners’ gold and store it as a national asset and reserve asset. But if we do what we did in 2004 and 2005 thereabout whereby we liberalised we will go back to four tonnes again.
“Do you think people produced four tonnes only, actually people produced over 30 tonnes and over 26 tonnes were smuggled to South Africa,” he said. Mangudya said people’s mindset needs a reset. Government suspended SI 25 of 2005 due to rampant smuggling and does not want to suffer the same predicament.
Yesterday Finance and Economic Development minister Mthuli Ncube said over 30 tonnes of gold were smuggled to South Africa due to the forex retention policy which needs a realignment.
Mangudya concurred with Ncube on rampant gold smuggling, saying the liberalisation of the sector will only make it worse.
“Right now we are not monitoring gold to the extent we should as the gold is going out of the country at an alarming rate and smuggling of gold is rampant. I now hear a few names that I cannot pronounce that are said to be coming for gold here in Zimbabwe. Now you can imagine if we liberalise the selling of the precious mineral what will happen,” he said.
“The environment right now is not conducive, liberalisation, all present ministers, under this environment it is not possible to liberalise yellow metal sector as they are many people who are waiting to smuggle gold.”
Mangudya said the country needs to level the playing field, first, before liberalising the gold sector. He said it is premature to free up the gold market. Fidelity Printers and Refiners is the country’s sole legal buyer and marketer of the yellow metal.
Producers bemoan the monopoly, blaming it for providing fertile ground for inefficiencies that have in turn benefited the black market to the detriment of the economy at large. Producers complained Fidelity is in some cases taking up to four weeks to pay for deliveries, a situation that leaves miners vulnerable and unable to pay for suppliers.
Market watchers say artisanal miners end up selling their produce to the informal market due to the inefficiencies of the state buyer_Business Times
Closure of mines like Mhangura, Gaths Mine, Shabanie Mine, Kamativi Tin mine, just to mention a few, which were once sources of livelihood and a pillar for many families and the economy at large has caused a variety of problems to the once-prosperous mining communities.
Against the background of a successful operating mining industry which at its pick was sustaining the whole of Zimbabwe cementing its position as one of the most economically gifted nations in Africa, Zimbabwe’s shutdown mines have become a major stumbling block for the nation to embrace its vision towards economic revival.
By Mirirai Ngoya
According to a popular discourse that has been trending in the mining industry in Zimbabwe, the perception to improve the economy for the citizens lies in the mining industry particularly to the majority of Zimbabweans who live near areas with mineral deposits. As such closed mines in Zimbabwe, have made life difficult for people who live in such areas. The closure of mines like Mhangura, Gaths Mine, Shabanie Mine, Kamativi Tin mine, just to mention a few, which were once sources of livelihood and a pillar for many families and the economy at large has created a variety of problems to the once-prosperous mining communities.
Mhangura mine
For example, Shabanie and Gaths Mines had shares in Firstel, FBC Bank, Costco, Tube and Pipe industries, Turnall and Fiber Cement, PG AND Maskew industries and a cotton ginnery in Gokwe. The fall of these giant mines saw the closure and downfall of the mentioned once big and popular firms. This has had a negative effect on the economy of Zimbabwe to date.
The fall of sporting activities
Many Mines in Zimbabwe sponsored sports through The Chamber of Mines. With the closure of the mines, the majority of the teams and clubs were disbanded, thus a loss of yet another source of livelihood. For example, Gaths Mine had one of the biggest sporting stadia in Zimbabwe for athletics, Netball, soccer, volleyball, cycling among others, however, the stadium is now a sorry state with the community now using it as a paddock for their cattle. With the closure of these mines in Zimbabwe, sports in actual fact was seriously affected, however, the coming of platinum mines like Zimplats have seen football re-emerging.
Childhood destitution
Children in most towns with closed mines where mineral deposits are still found have dropped out of school, opting to search for mineral deposits selling them at low prices as a way to fend for their families. This causes a significant reduction in the literacy level of multitudes of affected children.
The Great Dyke mineral belt has turned school children into artisanal gold miners trying to create jobs for themselves as a way to move on with life.
“More awareness campaigns need to be undertaken by stakeholders in the area on disaster risk management, child labour and child protection as well as guidance and counselling. These need to be undertaken at all possible fora, the death of one pupil is one too many.” Guruve district school’s inspector Pinias Dambuza said expressing
shock.
Increased rate of prostitution
Due to economic hardships in Zimbabwe, children as young as 12 are engaged in prostitution particularly in mine areas where major mines were closed and now small scale and artisanal mining activities are taking place. There is a high increase rate of prostitution in areas where mines have shut down. This lack of income results in women and young ladies resorting to selling their bodies just to let ends meet.
This shows that the shutdown mines are leading to the deterioration of societal values as people are searching for any means possible to take make ends meet.
Prostitution has increased in areas like Mazoe where there is rampant gold panning. More so, it is sad that girls from the age of 13-22 are the most active in the world’s oldest profession. Some engage in harlotry because their fellow colleagues are doing so.
Land degradation and water pollution
Shutdown mines are to a greater extent, putting people’s lives at great risk. For example, people and animals in the
Mashava area (Gaths Mine) are at risk of falling into open pits that were just left after extraction of minerals.
The open pits overlook the area where small scale mines operate, thereby distracting the beauty of a community in particular and the nation as a whole.
One mining specialist from the Community Water Alliance, Hardlife Mudzingwa indicated to Mining Zimbabwe that closed mines are creating more opportunities for the small-scale miner, but some problems arise due to their unmonitored activities which are leading to contamination of water for the community.
He said “Small scale miners who use mercury, sulphuric acid and cyanide are leading to the contamination of water” “This is leading to water-borne diseases, as such the EMA must look towards those areas and educate the miners in as far as a good purification process to the miner”
“Many animals who live in water are affected, hence die”
Minerals just lying idle
A lot of minerals are not fully utilised as a way to build up the country’s economy due to the long-shut mines. Mhangura mine shut down but still has a lot of copper which can contribute to the economy and help the local and Zimbabwean majority with job opportunities.
Shabani mine also is sitting on loads of asbestos which can aid in reviving Zimbabwe’s economy in this era where the nation is moving towards embracing devolution.
Thus, the closing of mines has put a lot of families at risk since miners lost their jobs, as well as the nation not generating any foreign currency from the mines.
Mining Towns standards deteriorating
Towns with closed mines have declined in terms of peoples living standards because of a number of reasons:
Shops have closed and some have even collapsed/ community towns operating at low standards.
Looking at the areas like Gath’s mine, business owners of community shops have closed and left the area. People are now travelling to a distant shopping centre to access goods and this has been proved to be more expensive to community people.
Resettlement problems
The issue of resettling the once so-called miners has become a problem in areas with closed mines. Miners feel that it’s not easy to just pack and go major reason being that the mines still owe them. This can be seen through Mashava, Gaths mine have closed but the workers are still there claiming that they cannot leave until they have been paid.
According to the workers, the situation is now so bad as they cannot afford to raise money for school fees and even basic goods.
One former miner said “we have pleaded with the government that the company is failing to pay us our pensions and salaries, but nothing has come into fruition”
Shutdown mines have troubled their former employees looking at the Kusena diamond mine which was owned by ZMDC. The mine closed while some workers were on leave.
Speaking to one representative of the mine, Gilbert Kusena he said “we have been troubled by this former mine as they are refusing to pay us since 2011 up to now”
“We are in a bad state as some of our houses were destroyed by cyclone Idai and other members from are still missing”
The government must take into consideration that closed mines have haunted and continue to haunt the majority
of former workers lives. As much as Zimbabwe is facing an unprecedented time economically in many years, former
workers hope one-day promises of reopening will be fulfilled.
This article first appeared in the June 2019 issue of the Mining Zimbabwe Magazine
Despite beating a 19-year record in gold deliveries, reports have it that, over 30 tonnes of the gold was smuggled out of the country last year due to unfavourable pricing following the spreading disparity between the RTGS dollar and the USD.
By Dickson Rudairo Mapuranga
Gold delivery to Fidelity Printers and Refinery the country’s sole gold buyer and exporter is hitting a major decline as predicted when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya announced the New Monetary policy
reducing gold forex retention from 70 per cent to 55 yet miners were advocating for an increase up to 90 per cent foreign currency retention.
The reduction of foreign currency retention from the previous mark has sparked anger and protests from the
small-scale miners over this issue which in actuality has reduced gold prices significantly thus, making gold
submissions to Fidelity unviable.
Deliveries in the first three months of the year declined to 6,5 tonnes from 7,3 tonnes delivered at the same time last
year.
The year 2018 saw small-scale miners delivering 66 per cent of the 33,3 tonnes that were delivered to Fidelity. But five days after the 2019 Monetary Policy Statement on February 20, according to Zimbabwe Miners Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya, only 20kg of was delivered, against 60kg-per-day on average.
There is an exploding situation when it comes to the delivery of gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, miners have stated that selling gold to Fidelity has become unreasonable and unviable.
Small-scale miners and experts speak out
One small scale miner identified as Chawanga said “It is unreasonable to sell gold to Fidelity considering the process miners go through which is painful, stressful, dangerous and tiresome then you get paid peanuts. The money will also be affected by inflation minutes from the bank, so bond is a no-no” he said.
According to the miners, selling gold to the parallel market has become a better option since the market has proven to be reliable and rewards the miners of their hard-earned money in hard currency. Although the amount paid on the black market is lower, the market has proven to be better than Fidelity.
“It is a well-known fact that the parallel market has become more viable since the market has proven to be reliable and rewarding the miners of their hard-earned money. Although the amount paid on the Parallel market is lower, the market has proven to be much better than Fidelity.’
“It is a well-known fact that the parallel market pays lesser per gram of gold, what is surprising is that miners are running to those people, the parallel market has become the formal market in Zimbabwe,” said one miner.
On our Mining Zimbabwe Facebook page
We asked why gold submissions to Fidelity have fallen and most miners expressed disappointment with the
current payment system.
A follower known as Johannes heartily said ” 55 %-45% payment system kills the mining business. How did they arrive at such a payment system? Gold is not just picked from the ground…. You invest money, incur losses.. The moment you start to get some recovery someone says the payment system is what is there? Just to harvest gold like that? It’s bad… The culture of bad policies must stop.. Pay 100 % to the miners, export the gold at a profit… Not to exploit miners then export and get profits, pocketing a fortune by blood-sucking your citizens.. We look up to those in authority to be fair on miners. Please, review that thievery policy!”
Seasoned geologist Kennedy Mthetwa said “Been there done that got the T-shirt in 2000 to 2008 policies which saw gold production decline to unprecedented levels. History repeating itself. RBZ and Fidelity learnt nothing from the 2000 to 2008 era?”
Speaking at a post-2019 Monetary Policy Statement review meeting with small-scale miners in February, Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe deputy director for Financial Markets William Manhimanzi said the central bank was struggling to pay miners in hard cash as it was failing to import notes via South Africa.
“The only bank that remained was FNB, and they gave notice in December 2018 that they would no longer be supplying our own local banks with cash,” he said. However, miners slammed the government of hiding behind a finger, they accused the government of stealing exporter’s money to take care of their insatiable appetite of the USD thus, robbing exporters of their dues.
“It is clear that the government badly needs foreign currency to take care of its other obligations. However, the above scenario paints a picture of a government which is failing to protect the very providers of forex. This is not sustainable and has to be remedied at all costs. There must be incentives meant to encourage and support small scale gold miners because previous gold deliveries show that this is where most of the gold to keep Zimbabwe going is coming from”. said one miner.
The miners can see the elephant, the miners have pointed it out. The government will have to address the Elephant in the room and soon.
This article first appeared in the June 2019 issue of the Mining Zimbabwe Magazine
Presenting the National Budget Statement to the Parliament of Zimbabwe yesterday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Prof Mthuli Ncube said that mineral leakages in Zimbabwe have been on the rise depriving the country of foreign currency earnings, this has led the government to come up with measures to curb leakages.
Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga
The Finance Minister said that the government is reviewing and tightening the Gold trade act capacitating the gold mobilisation unit as a measure to stop gold leakages from the country.
Experts are of the belief that more than half of gold produced in Zimbabwe is finding its way out of the country due to different reasons chief being the recently reduced forex retention from 75% to 55%.
“Mineral exports remain the major sources of foreign currency, especially gold. However, leakages have been on the rise depriving the country of foreign currency earnings. Government is, therefore, reviewing and tightening the Gold trade act, and capacitating gold mobilisation unit” said Mthuli.
Professor Ncube also said that his government is looking for measures to make sure that various mining firms join the Extractive Industry Transparent Initiative (EITI) in order to improve transparency and accountability in the mining sector.
“In addition, with the increasing call for transparent and accountability in the sector, discussions are underway with various stakeholders on joining the extractive industry transparent initiative (EITI), which will be pursued during 2020,” said Prof Mthuli Ncube.
The Finance Minister also said that the “use it or lose it” policy will be implemented to curb leakages from miners supposedly on care and maintenance or on hold whilst being mined Nicodemusly.
The use it or lose it policy was proposed by indigenous Zimbabwean miners who said hoarding of claims across all minerals was limiting factor in the growth of the sector.
The Minister also said that his government is going to finalise the amendments to the Mines and Minerals act as well as pushing for digitalisation of the title registration, geological findings and other information as a way to limit leakages.
“Other interventions on improving production and transparent in the Mining sector include the following,
Enforcement of the “use it or lose it ” principle to prevent speculative hoarding of claims across all minerals.
Finalising the amendments to mines and minerals act.
Operationalising the automated mining cadastre information system
Rolling out of gold service centres in all major production centres and full capacitation of HCCL increase throughput from the underground mine.” He said.
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