‘Transfer skills to small scale miners’

MIDLANDS Provincial Minister of State Owen Ncube has said there is a need to transfer mining skills from big mines to small scale miners.

Speaking during a recent familiarisation tour of Mimosa Mine, Minister Ncube said skills transfer has a huge impact in the lives of people and will lead to the growth of the mining sector.

“While improved governance of extraction is critical at the micro level, partnering to improve the livelihoods and working conditions of small scale miners can have a multiplier effect, both for small and large scale miners,” he said.

“We need to develop a strategy in the province where large mining corporations like yours donate the time of their technical employees to assist smaller miners in the areas of mining, geology, mining resources and management.

“Such partnerships have a huge impact on the lives of some of the people in the Midlands through unlocking the mining means and investing in local capacity so that a flourishing mining industry can be led by local professionals,” added Minister Ncube.

Poor mechanisation and lack of technical expertise have been cited as some of the hindrances to the growth of the small-scale mining sector. In the past Mimosa Mine has donated mining equipment to small-scale miners in Mberengwa and Zvishavane. Small-scale miners who came together under the banner Zvishavane-Mberengwa Small Scale Miners’ Association received 20 jack hammers and compressors from the platinum miner in 2015.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF) has called on Government to speed up revision of the mining regulatory framework to spur investment in the sector. ZMF chairperson Mr Lufeyi Shato felt not much has been done to relax and simplify the regulatory framework. — @lavuzigara1.