The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
YOUNG Miners Foundation (YMF) has partnered with Bulawayo based KBM Consultancy, a mining and metallurgical consulting company as part of efforts to assist young small-scale miners formalise their operations and grow their enterprises to medium scale.
Formalisation of youths artisanal and small-scale miners has been viewed as one of the ways to curb smuggling of precious minerals out of the country, while complementing the country’s target to turn the mining sector into a US$12 billion industry by 2023.
In an interview, YMF chief executive officer Mr Payne Kupfuwa said the partnership with KBM Consultancy was in sync with their vision of up scaling young small-scale miners into formalised medium scale miners.
“Our aim as young miners is to positively contribute to the realisation of a US$12 billion mining economy target which should see Zimbabwe edging closer to the goal of being an upper-middle income country by 2030.
This can be achieved by working together with strategic partners such as KBM Consultancy to formalise and grow young miners’ enterprises into professional medium scale entities so that they boost their production capacities,” said Mr Kupfuwa.
He said their 2022 theme was: ‘Young Miners Collaborative Corporate Participation for Sustainable Mining by 2030’ and they were pushing towards creating strategic synergies, strategic partners with key stakeholders in mining as well as along the value chain.
Mr Kupfuwa said since the beginning of the year they had engagements with various stakeholders including Better Brands Jewellery, a local gold-buying agent to map the way forward on how best they could assist young miners.
“In terms of assistance, Better Brands Jewellery will be coming in to help young miners with exploration and extraction equipment so that they can sell their gold to them since they are an agent of Fidelity Printers and Refiners. We will continue to engage and partner with more key stakeholders in the mining sector,” he said.
He said they were also working with institutions to ensure that better opportunities are availed for employment of mining graduates or technicians from the Zimbabwe School of Mines and other universities.
Mr Kupfuwa said for 2022 they were looking at exchange programmes meant to give young miners exposure outside the country so that they get to understand how other young miners in other countries are managing to develop their small-scale mines to medium scale ones.
KBM Consultancy director of operations Mr Kudakwashe Mapurisa said they were going to provide services to young miners in the form of expertise ranging from mineral exploration, mining, crushing, milling and leaching of gold ores.
He said they aimed to assist with designing of facilities, construction of plants, management consultancy and training of staff.
“As YMF comes through for the development of small-scale miners into noticeable and profitable industries through professionalism and formalisation of all mining activities, we will work hand in glove with them.
“We will provide technical services input to ensure there is efficiency and productivity in mining operations all leading to improved gold production in the sector. The collective achievement will boost miners’ production capacities and positively contribute to the Government’s US$12 billion mining industry target,” added Mr Mapurisa.
Meanwhile, last month the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) records revealed that in 2021, Zimbabwe’s large-scale gold producers delivered 11 159 kilogrammes while small-scale producers contributed 18 470,61 kilogrammes, a move that represented a 55,5 percent increase as compared to the previous year.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando is on record saying the US$12 billion mining industry target by 2023 is achievable as part of the broader macroeconomic roadmap towards achieving an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
