Tighten administration of Exclusive Prospecting Orders
The Zimbabwe Prospectors Association says the government should expedite the tightening of rules and regulations
governing the administration of Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs) to foster the establishment of commercially viable mines.
Of late, concerns have been raised over the continued grip of under-utilised mining titles by speculators. The Zimbabwe Prospectors Association (ZPA) secretary-general Mr. Timothy Chizuzu said prospecting should not be segregative and held for speculative tendencies.
“As such where an applicant or holder of prospecting rights or title cannot prove his capacity to carry out prospecting work especially in the case of EPOs, the rights should be forfeited for the benefit of potential players who can explore the mineral potential.
“Thus we are exhorting the government to expedite the tightening of rules and regulations controlling prospecting.
“Currently, there is the issue of lack of harmony between the Mines and Minerals Act and the Ministry of Lands and this has created confusion on whether the ground is open for prospecting and pegging or not,” he said.
Mr. Chizuzu said there were also instances where some landowners fail or are unwilling to cede idle ground when approached by prospective miners.
They (landowners) instead immediately want to do the prospecting for their own benefit and we think the ngovernment should quickly move in to tighten the rules and regulations controlling the administration of prospecting and EPOs to protect prospective miners, he said.
ZPA was established in 2018 to advance the interests and rights of prospectors in the issuance and administration of mining rights.
Presently, the association which has over 100 members dotted across the country believes the above objective will be achieved through advocating for the rights and interests of the members.
ZPA also seeks to technically capacitate prospectors through consultancy and training in sync with the advent of the latest technology.
Said Mr. Chizuzu: “So far, we have over 20 prospectors who have graduated with diplomas in Geo-Information System (GIS). “And prospecting as an initial stage of exploration needs to be carried out by highly qualified personnel who can marry the technical aspect of mineral prospecting (identification, classification, or staking) with the legal arm on acquisition rights.”
Zimbabwe is endowed with vast mineral deposits but these remain untapped due to lack of exploration.
This article first appeared in the June 2020 issue of Mining Zimbabwe