Artisanal mining in Zimbabwe to be formalized
Artisinal mining is set to be formalized in Zimbabwe. Winston Chitando, Country’s Mines Minister said the move aims to aid in curbing illegal mining.
“We want artisanal miners to be organised and mine in an orderly manner. We don’t want to see holes everywhere. You will be working with big companies like Metallon Gold. We don’t want revenue leakages, and we want to support our President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s mining vision,” said Chitando.
The government will additionally commission a gold centre at Jumbo Mine in Mazowe that will enable them collect revenue through the central bank to enable development of the economy through mining activities. Zimbabwe’s mining sector is highly diversified, with close to 40 different minerals.
Mining sector
The predominant minerals include platinum group metals (PGM), chrome, gold, coal, and diamonds. The country boasts the second-largest platinum deposit and high-grade chromium ores in the world, with approximately 2.8 billion tons of PGM and 10 billion tons of chromium ore.
The sector accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). According to the minister of mines, the sector has the potential to generate US$12 billion annually by 2023 if the government addresses challenges such as persistent power shortages, foreign currency shortages, and policy uncertainties.
The mining sector has become the fastest growing with both small-scale mining companies, artisanal miners and multinational companies taking part in the gold rush. The ranks of artisanal miners have risen to around 1.5 million. This has resulted in more mining sites being opened legally and illegally in all gold rich areas in what makes the actual numbers hard to ascertain. As a result of illicit financial flows, Zimbabwe has been losing money through gold smuggling into neighbouring South Africa and nearby Dubai.
