Government to register all gold producers

Government is in the process of putting in place a Statutory Instrument for the registration of all the small scale gold producers in the country, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya told a Parliamentary Committee on Monday.

This comes as gold deliveries from artisanal miners to Fidelity Printers and Refineries (FPR) for the month of June increased to 1 798.8 tonnes from 783.8 kgs in May 2021 according to Dr Mangudya.

Dr Mangudya said the move to register artisanal miners is similar to what happens in the tobacco sector where all tobacco farmers have to be registered and have a grower numbers.

“The whole idea is that the small scale gold producers are all registered producers with Fidelity Printers and Refiners.

“That way would be formalising gold producers,” Dr Mangudya told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.

Explaining the “no questions asked policy” towards gold supplied to Fidelity Printers and Refineries (FPR) by artisanal miners, Dr Mangudya said it is just a process of formalising gold producers and knowing where they operate from.

“What is being referred to as no questions asked is a process that we have started to ensure that we know where these producers are, what they are doing, and what they are producing and then that they should take into account of the need to ensure there is no environmental degradation.”

Dr Mangudya said formalisation of gold producers will help in responsible mining activities.

He said once gold miners are registered, they will be given terms and conditions of operating with responsible mining in mind.

He added that there is also need to ensure that gold is not taken out of the country.

Dr Mangudya said the gold mobilisation committee is supposed to put in place measures to protect the environment as well as ensure that gold is brought to Fidelity Printers and Refiners.-ebusinessweekly.cl.zw