Non-compliant miners in Zimbabwe to lose licences
Non-compliant miners in Zimbabwe are set to lose their licence. Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) announced they will not renew the licence for those who are not adhering to sustainable mining practices as it steps up efforts to arrest the massive environmental degradation witnessed in many districts across the country.
ZMF also warned artisanal and small-scale miners against the rampant illegal practices saying stricter enforcement of the law was looming. Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando said while Government recognized and supported artisanal mining operations that had seen huge gold contributions, renewal of mining licences would be subject to miners’ sustainable mining practices which were environmentally friendly and lawful. Minister Chitando said before renewing any mining concession, Government would ensure that a miner was also tax compliant.
“It is imperative that every miner complies with the sustainable mining initiatives. Before you (miners) start mining, you should submit your site of works plan to the Mines Ministry and get an Environmental Impact Assessment certificate from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA).
Gold service centres
“Once you start mining, make sure that you comply with the provisions of the environmental laws of the country. The level of environmental degradation taking place in some places is simply unacceptable.
“There will be a lot of initiatives to try and make sure that is corrected we will come up with measures to ensure that before the renewal of any mining concession, Government is satisfied that the miner is complying with environmental provisions,” he said.
The country’s Cabinet this week approved the establishment of gold service centres to streamline and support the operations of artisanal gold miners by ensuring they operate legally and in a safe environment. Artisanal miners are expected to get machinery and transport from the centres to provide sufficient ore. The artisanal miners are also expected to benefit through higher returns from the processing of the feed ore they supply to the centres.
Minister Chitando was optimistic about the achievement of a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023 with anticipation of leapfrogging last year’s US$5,3 billion to US$8 billion by the end of this year. He said the Government was coming up with stringent measures to reinforce tax collections and delivery of minerals to the responsible organs, with gold going to Fidelity Printers while all other minerals were supposed to be taken to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ).
