The Sunday Mail
The Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF) is this year targeting a 53 percent jump in gold production by small-scale miners to 20 tonnes as artisanal miners are fast becoming major primary gold producers ahead of large mining corporates.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail Business, ZMF chief executive officer Mr Wellington Takavarasha said small- scale miners are building on the current momentum that saw the sector surpass its 10 tonnes target last year.
Artisanal miners produced 13 tonnes of gold in 2017, which was ahead of the large corporations’ total output and accounted for 53 percent of the total gold delivered to Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR).
The country produces about 24 tonnes of gold annually. Mr Takavarasha said the ease of doing business reforms that are currently being implemented are expected to see more artisanal miners being registered and formalising their businesses and contribute to economic development through taxation.
“There is positive engagement with various stakeholders and this is encouraging for the sector. As a result, we are looking at increasing production and hope to achieve around 20 tonnes of gold this year.
“Government is also seeing that artisanal miners are an important part of this economy and has initiated some reforms to remove all the obstacles that constrain business growth in this sector,” said Mr Takavarasha.
He highlighted the Gold Development Fund was also playing a major role in capacitating small-scale miners and boosting output, a situation anticipated to continue this year. It is, however, believed large quantities of gold are still being smuggled out of the country, prejudicing the economy of export revenue.
Last year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) indicated that nearly 1 000 kilogrammes of the yellow metal were being smuggled out of the country annually.
This year, it is understood gold deliveries to FPR have already slowed with miners opting for the parallel market where they are paid in fall in cash.
This follows the decision by FPR to pay 70 percent of the proceeds in cash while the remaining 30 percent is deposited into miners’ accounts due to the prevailing cash and foreign currency shortages.
Mr Takavarasha, however, said artisanal miners would soon engage with the RBZ and Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and was upbeat about containing the situation and ensure more deliveries are made through the formal channels.
FPR has also indicated they are working on tightening screws to reduce leakages, while also reducing bottlenecks in purchasing the precious metal.
For instance, FPR now accepts delivery of below 5 grammes while one only needs an identity document to sell.
“We have relaxed the requirements needed for one to sell gold at Fidelity. We are also tightening screws with our agents to ensure they do not become conduits for the black market. This should see more gold coming in to Fidelity,” said FPR operations manager Mr David Mpofu.
