Formalisation dominates young miners’ indaba

THE need to formalise and regularise mining operations by small-scale miners dominated the Young Miners Foundation (YMF) indaba held in Kwekwe recently with the key message being the need to formalise operations so as to contribute more to the US$12 billion mining economy.

The indaba was held in Kwekwe where there is a high number of small-scale miners who are not properly registered. It was attended by scores of delegates from across the country and the key speakers emphasised the need to formalise operations.
Kwekwe-based miner, Mr Tobias Kadenhe, who started off as an artisanal minor, gave a testimony of how he transformed from being an artisanal miner to a medium -scale miner.

“I now employ more than 300 miners including qualified engineers and artisans. It takes a lot of commitment to formalise and these are the results of formalising your operations,” he said.

“Being able to extract minerals with all the paperwork in place without running away from anyone can propel you to greater heights.”
Zanu-PF Midlands secretary for security, Mr Owen Ncube said the Second Republic was pushing for formalisation of artisanal miners so that they can push national development.

“Since the formalisation of artisanal miners the deliveries to Fidelity Printers have improved and now I’m told they are contributing 60 percent of gold deliveries,” he said.

“We should emulate Mr Kadenhe who managed to formalise and is now continuing toward the country’s GDP in line with the Second Republic’s vision.”

Mr Ncube said the Government has also made available starter packs and created a ready market for minerals, which benefits the miners.
“After successfully formalising the operations, the Government made available starter packs and funding for young miners and equipment so that they can go about their business without any hustle. The Mines and Minerals Bill has also been successfully reviewed and now is in favour of small-scale miners.”

Kwekwe District development coordinator, Mr Fortune Mpungu, urged miners to conserve the environment and infrastructure. He was making reference to the recent collapse of a school and a house in Kwekwe due to illegal mining activities.

“We encourage miners to practice environmentally friendly mining, which does not destroy the infrastructure and buildings,” he said.
“Instead, we should be able to plough back to the community where we are mining and help in the construction of roads, clinics, schools and other infrastructure.”

Mr Mpungu said it was self-defeating to destroy the same infrastructure that miners are expected to be building.
Environmental Management Agency Kwekwe District Officer Mr Daniel Magombedze urged miners to have all necessary available before mining adding innovativeness was important in the mining sector.

“We should have all necessary paperwork in place like the Environmental Impact Assessment, effluent discharge certificate, solid waste and disposal certificate and others, in place. We should be able to follow all necessary steps so that we carry out mining, which is not damaging to the environment.

This can only be done when you formalise your operations,” he said.
YMF chief executive officer, Mr Payne Kupfuwa, said the indaba was meant to bring miners and stakeholders together to encourage them to formalise their operations.

“We were successful in bringing the miners and mining stakeholders together so that we can get to hear the advantages of formalisations,” he said.
“As you could see, we also had testimonies from some young miners who managed to formalise their operations and are now reaping the rewards and contributing towards economic development as young miners in line with our Government Vision 2030.”

Mining stakeholders in the mining industry including Nssa, equipment suppliers, Ministry of Mines and Mining Development were among some stakeholders graced the occasion.

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