Brian Rungano Temba
Small scale miners have outperformed larger and better structured mining companies in gold deliveries to Fidelity Printer and Refiners.
The relevelation exonerates Government`s decision to mainstream artisanal miners and small scale players into the national mining ecosystem.
In his mid-term budget review, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said gold deliveries at Fidelity Printers rose from 1668 kilograms to 2924 kilograms.
The boost came from the small scale producers who overtook the primary producers, who in May alone had delivered 884.2 kgs while small scale producers delivered 783.8kgs.
In June primary producers delivered 1125.6kgs while the small scale producers delivered 1798.7kgs.
Minister Ncube told Parliament that small scale miners have always lagged behind primary producers, in tonnes delivered, but the tide seems to be turning.
The year 2021 started off with Fidelity receiving below 1000 kgs of gold in deliveries from both mining sub-sectors combined.
A spike in deliveries was experienced in March and Fidelity Printers got 1139.4kgs from primary producers alone and 670.1kgs from the small scale producers.
The aggregate of March’s delivered doubled that of January setting a new tone that was retained until June 2021.
The Gold mining sector continues to steadily gravitate towards the attainment of its goal of a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023 through green field and brown field investments. `
Zimbabwe has the highest number of local small scale miners in the region with an estimated number between 500,000 and 1,5 million artisanal and small scale miners operating in Zimbabwe.
Of all small scale miners, only 16 percent are registered according to the Mines and Minerals Regulation Act, Chapter 21:05.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya announced to the media early this month that a statutory instrument on the requirements for registration was being crafted and would be gazetted soon.
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development also published new Mining fees that small scale miner have complained about, citing that most between equipment and the fees of formalizing and running they are running losses.
Meanwhile reports of people being arrested or intercepted while trying to smuggle gold out of the country have been on the increase lately.
Zimbabwe Republic Police – Minerals Department has reported success in rounding up gold smuggling syndicates that have been sing the Mozambique corridor to sell it to their dealers from South Africa and Dubai.
Treasury intends to buy 500 police vehicles as part of a raft of measures to help fight crime and improve efficiency in terms of policing and fighting corruption among other illegal activities.
Recent Comments