Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

Last month Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) sent a letter to the Mines Minister, Winston Chitando. ZMF stated that they were against the application of Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs) due to the fact that EPOs are against national interest.

Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

ZMF argued that, while it is true that there is a need to explore and quantify minerals in Zimbabwe using modern technologies, EPOs will eventually affect the uplifting of women and economic empowerment, gains achieved since independence due to the fact that some people will grab large pieces of land for themselves living others with nothing specifically women who are mainly amateurs in the industry.

Commenting on ZMF stance, one expert in the mining industry and economics said that EPOs were necessary for the country to discover new metals and also to protect other metals from being extracted without the knowledge of the government which might lead individuals or organizations benefiting instead of the government.

“Surely the government must have guidelines to curb speculation. The rest of the world grants EPOs and new large deposits are found that way. The government can simply copy regulations that stop speculative purposes. Rather than ban exploration that generates new large scale deposits which Zimbabwe is so desperate to increase forex generation for the country” he said.

However, some miners believe that EPOs should be strapped because they are becoming a platform of corruption and prestige, where one would just acquire large pieces of land without even mining.

“The challenge is people hold on to these EPOs for years without any work on the ground. The rules are there but with little enforcement as has been the case, the industry is going to suffer” said one miner.

Those who support the idea that EPOS are a danger to gains of economic freedom believe that EPOs should target mainly heavy metals like lithium and gases, coal.  As gold and chrome have been prospected and discovered long back. They believe that the Government must prioritize small scale mining for quick gains in gold and chrome production.

However, experts believe that, under any circumstances, EPOs have to be enforced. Corrupt elements that might be disturbing the correct purpose of EPOs should be looked in to. They believe that for the mining industry to grow the current position on EPOs is the right thing to do.

“Any country that requires new deposits must give companies ground for large scale exploration. The reason people think gold was discovered long back only is that there hasn’t been exploration ground available for new discoveries to be made. This is exactly why Zimbabwe came from being the third-largest gold producer in Africa to I don’t even know number what now. That’s why we get happy producing 30 tonnes of gold when we should be close to 100 tonnes of gold per year” said one expert.

This article first appeared in Mining Zimbabwe Feb 2019 issue

Last month the president Emmerson Mnangagwa announced fuel price hike which was deemed by some economic experts “painful but necessary”. The price hike were aimed at reducing the high demand of fuel which had smashed Zimbabwe to the hardcore, was also implemented to reduce the allegedly hoarding of fuel from Zimbabwe by foreign companies due to the fact that in reality fuel in Zimbabwe was too cheap, costing less than USD O,7O.

Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga

However, according to some experts, the fuel situation in Zimbabwe is affecting miners all the more than creating a favorable environment for them. The fuel price hike which caused diesel and petrol to cost more than $3, fueled the escalation of some mining equipment and even basic commodities without prices of precious metals and stones increasing, as a result the miner is affected all the more.

Miners are crying over fuel prices in Zimbabwe, some who met Mining Zimbabwe said that their work relations have been decreased due to price hikes which were speared mainly by the increase in fuel prices.

“Currently the fuel remains the hardest hitting coupled with the fact that the retention is not workable,    Chamber of Mines is engaging government to increase forex payment to 80%, and submissions were made to Reserve Bank for immediate review. The portion of 50% and 50% bond is a huge loss for chrome Miners especially with the increased fuel price and the fact that service providers are charging USD for parts” said one miner.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) said that they are engaging the government on the issue of fuel which have affected mining activities to a greater degree. They said that the government need to look into the matter, pay their dues in USD or provide them with a certain funding that will enable them to grow. The fact remains that the mining industry have proven be a major catalyst in the turnaround of the economy of Zimbabwe.

“We continue with the call for formalization by government amending the mining act and ZMF requires an act to be included in government budgets to access funding for its miner programmes” they said.

An inside source in ZMF said that the organization is in the process of pushing to acquire fuel import license so that cost of fuel will be reduced specifically to the miner in order to increase production. Miners activities especially small scale miners require the use of diesel and petrol because most of these miners use diesel or petrol electricity generators for extraction and power.

“We want a license so we can import it in specifically for miners, but the president will announce it let me put you in touch with her directly, so she gives you the scoop first. We are still in talks right now so it can only be divulged after there’s a concrete plan” she said.

This article first appeared in Mining Zimbabwe Feb 2019 issue