GOLD BONANZA ZAMBIA MISSES OUT ….
Government should ensure maximum utilisation of resource
ZAMBIA is missing out on the gold bonanza, which could revive the national economy, by not prioritising the mining of the mineral as the global price reaches US$2070 per gram, a mining expert has said.
Gold rallied to a record high above $2, 070 this year but only countries with well established mining systems producing huge quantities will benefit from this.
Zambia earmarked to mine 40, 000 kilograms per year as part of its plans to use earnings from gold to ease some of its debt stress. Mr Simukonda indicated in an interview that it was prudent the resource was exploited on a larger scale which would enable the country to realise much needed revenue. He said a number of foreigners were conniving with locals to smuggle the resource which would disadvantage the country hence the need to ensure that the resource was legally exploited without delay.
Mr Simukonda said that the country cannot afford to lose out from this lucrative resource in the hands of unscrupulous individuals. “We need to mop up gold as much as possible from these mining areas because if we lose out, this will deny the country from earning the much needed revenue,” he said.
And Mr Simukonda hoped that the price being offered by ZCCM-IH to miners was good enough because low prices can lead to smuggling of the resource.
Mr Simukonda said those people exploiting the mineral needed to be offered a fair price by ZCCM-IH which had been authorised to buy gold locally.