New dawn for small-scale miners
IT seems it has since dawned on the Government that small-scale and artisanal gold miners play an integral part in contributing to the country’s mainstream economy.
Gone are the days when this class of miners was regarded as outlaws, dodging numerous and relentless raids by the law enforcers as their mining operations and activities were rendered illegal — it was really a cat and mouse affair.
The “fights” between the small-scale miners and the police escalated in 2006, with the police embarking on an operation code-named Chikorokoza Chapera/ Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile which was meant to curb all perceived “illegal gold mining” activities in the country.
This resulted in the closure of most of the smallscale mines and the arrest of hordes of miners and their subsequent prosecution. It had to take a group of committed small-scale miners to approach the Government, detailing the importance of the sector towards turning around the country’s economy under the auspice of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF). ZMF was formed in 2003 as a body whose mandate was to represent the interests of small-scale and artisanal miners.
Led by the organisation’s first president Mr Nixon Misi, ZMF’s task was to first get recognition from the Government as a body representing small-scale and artisanal miners — a feat that was achieved after years of negotiations between the two parties.
However, it was during the reign of Mr Trynos Nkomo as ZMF president that the voice of small-scale miners began to attract Government’s attention.
Mr Nkomo was ushered in as the organisation’s third leader, taking over from the then president, the late Mr George Kawonza, becoming the body’s longest serving leader over a period stretching from 2009 to 2015. At the formation of ZMF, Mr Nkomo was both the organisation’s Matabeleland region and national spokesperson.
As one of the country’s most experienced miners, Mr Nkomo recalls the gruelling period small-scale miners underwent in their efforts to convince the Government of their contribution to the country’s economy.
“We made various presentations in Parliament in a bid to convince Government of our contribution to the fiscus and the economy in general. The challenge we were facing is that most authorities thought we were just the same as gold panners because we were also using the rudimental way to extract gold.
“I vividly remember that even the then late Minister of Mines and Mining Development Amos Midzi was also of the view that small-scale miners should be stopped from operating. We had to go out of our way to peruse documents at Fidelity Printers and Refiners to prove how much we contributed as we bade to convince Government to be allowed to operate,” said Mr Nkomo.
The Government is in the process of reviewing the Mines and Minerals Act of 1963, as it stands that law does not recognise most of the operations of smallscale miners, hence they are constantly arrested. It is also making efforts to formalise activities by both small-scale and artisanal miners.
“It is worthwhile to note that the Government now recognises the contribution of small-scale miners to the economy and the efforts which it is making to capacitate them. This is as a result of the impressive deliveries which small-scale miners are making to Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
“During the period of 2015 and 2016 small-scale miners accounted for about 55 percent of gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refiners. This was after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr Gideon Gono had given a number of people licences to mop up the gold,” Mr Nkomo said.
He said there was a need for the Government to come up with a deliberate policy to empower and promote small-scale miners.
“There is no clearly defined policy on smallscale miners. I am of the idea that there should be a department within the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to specifically cater for small-scale miners and that way their growth from being small to medium can be facilitated and achieved.
“As it is there is no proper definition of small-scale miners and how they can be promoted into big mines of today from being a small miner of yesterday. Are small-scale miners small by virtue of what they produce or by the claims they possess? Yet mining claims are standardised,” said Mr Nkomo.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya said the Central Bank has over the years come up with a number of initiatives aimed at improving gold production by small-scale miners, which includes setting up of illusion plants, mobile banking as well as ensuring that Fidelity Printers and Refiners accept deliveries below five grammes from individual miners.
“We have key interest in supporting this sector and we are looking at various means to increase the sector’s capacity as well as having companies selling their gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners . . . We have plenty of gold underground with over 20 million tonnes yet we have only mined over 700 000 tonnes since 1980,” Dr Mangudya said.
Late last year, RBZ also realised a $20 million Gold Development Initiative, of which over $7 million has been allocated to small-scale miners in various parts of the country.
The $20 million facility is aimed at supporting smallscale miners to increase the yellow mineral production and it also entails the formalisation process of this class of gold producers in-line with responsible gold mining standards.
The Central Bank is envisaging annual gold deliveries by small-scale miners to be at par with those of primary producers by 2018.
According to statistics released by Fidelity Printers and Refiners total gold deliveries from gold miners last year amounted to more than 21 439 tonnes with the total deliveries reaching 23 tonnes after submissions from platinum producers. However, the 23 tonnes fall short of the 24 tonnes target set by the Government at the beginning of last year.
The statistics revealed that primary producers (big mines) managed to produce 11 759 tonnes while small-scale and artisanal miners accounted for 9 680 tonnes.
Information from the country’s sole buyer further revealed that small-scale miners managed to produce more than the big mines in the last quarter of the year realising an output of 3 163 tonnes with the primary producers weighing in with 2 958 tonnes.
In September small-scale miners produced 1 012 tonnes against 928 tonnes that was achieved by the big mines. In October smallscale miners upped their production a bit to 1 022 while the big mines also marginally increased their output to 957 tonnes, which was still below that of the small miners.
The expansion in gold output recently has been underpinned by increased contribution of the small-scale sector from an average of 25 percent realised over the past five years. Increased gold output by small-scale miners largely benefited from concerted efforts in monitoring of the sector by the Gold Mobilisation Committee.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa said the Government has “not sat on our laurels with regards to funding small-scale miners.”
The Government is finalising a mining equipment facility with South Korea aimed at capacitating small-scale gold miners. This comes as the country has set an ambitious production target of 27 tonnes of gold for 2017.
“We had hoped that by the beginning of 2016 we will have had the China facility on the table. The $100 milion Chinese facility would have assisted us going forward but it has not been availed due yet. We then decided to find other means and went to South Korea with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Patrick Chinamasa where we reached an agreement over a mining equipmement facility,” he said.
Minister Chidhakwa said there was a possibility that Government would remove royalties in future which currently stand at one percent for small-scale miners.
“I would like, at this juncture, to seriously pose a challenge to the gold sector, that if we are able to meet the 27 tonnes by December 31 2017, I propose to remove royalties for gold which currently stands at one percent for small-scale producers.
“I have already consulted with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development in this regard and we are still discussing this proposal. However, its success also hinges on the gold sector’s uptake of this initiative,” said Minister Chidhakwa.
Two weeks ago the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development hosted the inaugural gold sector awards ceremony in Harare. The awards seek to recognise the contribution of the small and large-scale miners to the national gold output and foreign currency generation. The awards are envisaged to be an annual event rewarding top gold producers, millers and buying agents.