The Sunday News
Sunday News reporter
GOVERNMENT is proposing to tighten regulations on the use of explosives by small scale and artisanal miners as it seeks to reduce the number of accidents and abuse of explosives in the mining sector, a senior Government official has revealed. Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Cde Fred Moyo told Sunday News on Friday last week that the new regulations were part of efforts to formalise the operations of artisanal miners.
Under the new system, all explosives would be kept at the provincial mining director’s offices across the country.
Small scale miners and artisanal miners would be expected to get explosives from the provincial mining director’s offices, as and when they want to use them, and would be expected to account for each explosive.
Previously, small scale miners used to buy explosives from the illegal market and would keep the explosives under unsafe conditions, creating the risk of accidents as well as room for the explosives to be abused.
Cde Moyo said the new system would also see increased and improved access to explosives by small scale miners.
“It is in this regard that we want to ensure explosives, a key input to mining, are legally and readily available to them. Heightened mining activity means increased use of explosives. There must always be security and compliance issues with regard to use of explosives. We must control use of explosives for these reasons but in the same vein ensure these are legally, easily and readily available to upcoming miners.
“After all when Government formalises activities of small scale miners, Government takes accountability of all compliance issues regarding activities of the sector,” said Cde Moyo.
The deputy minister added that the new regulations were also part of efforts by Government to capacitate small scale miners and artisanal miners as well as formalise their operations.
He said plans were under way to equip small scale and artisanal miners with blasting skills, to reduce mishaps in the sector.
“We are not targeting small scale miners. We are formalising and capacitating them. We capacitate them from a legal, skills, financial and material support point of view,” he said.
Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small Scale Miners Council (Zamsc) president Mr Wellington Takavarasha welcomed the move to have explosives kept at provincial mining director’s offices, saying the move would increase access to explosives by small scale miners.
He said previously small scale miners used to buy explosives from the black market, most of which would have expired, exposing them to danger.
“It’s a welcome move and we commend Government for that. Most artisanal miners do not have blasting licences which means that they have to acquire explosives from the black market or use big companies, which are expensive.
“Now that the explosives will be kept at the provincial offices it means that they are more accessible and with increased monitoring accidents will be minimised.
“The other advantage of having these explosives kept at the provincial offices is that there are better storage facilities there, which increases safety in any case,” he said.
A number of accidents have been recorded countrywide involving explosives and numerous cases of explosives abuse have also been recorded.
Recently 14 Zimbabweans were arrested in Musina, South Africa, after illegally crossing the Limpopo river and were found in possession of 100 detonators and cartridges worth $350 000.
Sometime in June this year, a Musina magistrate fined Sibonginkosi Mhlakanipiswa (41) from Bulawayo R20 000 for smuggling 80 detonators into that country through Beitbridge.
In December last year, a Zimbabwean woman, Elita Sibanda (23), was also arrested at Beitbridge border post after she tried to smuggle 100 detonators and 26 plastic cartridges.
