The Sunday News
Chrispen Gumunyu, Business Reporter
THE Government has started consulting stakeholders in the mining sector for their input into the amendment of the Mines and Mineral Bill as it moves to come up with an all-encompassing policy.
Speaking at the eighth edition of the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba in Bulawayo last week, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Mr Mazai Moyo said the Government was working on identifying sticky issues to the Mines and Minerals Bill.
“As a ministry we respect artisanal and small-scale miners’ participation and their contribution to the economy, which is why we take everything that they say into consideration. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Mines Development is conducting road shows in all mining provinces as a way of gathering more issues that affect miners which will then be added to the list of concerns that has been compiled in the past so it is clear that we are trying to put our ears on the ground so that what we add in the amendment is practical,” he said.
The original Bill had no clear definition of artisanal and small-scale miners, only defining them as “a holder of a mining location who is not a large-scale miner”.
He said; “In the current Act there is no mentioning of artisanal and small-scale miners but in the amendment we have incorporated the term artisanal and small-scale miners and this way we will be able to refer to a certain section for mining licenses fees structures. It becomes legislatively correct to have a dual fees structure to cater for big mining operations and small-scale miners.”
Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) chief executive officer Mr Wellington Takavarasha said there was a need to come up with different fee structures for the three mining classes.
“We still have a one-size-fits-all system when it comes to registration of a mining licence, be it for big mining operations or small-scale miners who both have to buy the same prospecting licence. We need to have a three-tier system as in Zambia where they have regulations such that there is registration for artisanal mining, small-scale mining and big mining operations are done separately,” he said.
The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill is expected to be resubmitted to Parliament by end of October, this time incorporating issues that President Mnangagwa expressed concern over. The President sent the Bill back to Parliament in terms of Section 131(6)(b) of the Constitution, with reservations over some sections which he felt violated the national supreme law.
Parliament has set timelines guiding the law drafting division of the Attorney-General’s Office, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. The timelines will also see the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development submitting the amended Gold Trade Act and Precious Stones Trade Act to Parliament by 30 October.
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