Miners capacity-building program a game changer

YOUNG miners have started reaping the benefits of improved technical capacity after attending two phases of coordinated training on fundamentals of mining management in partnership with the Zimbabwe School of Mines (ZSM).

Scaling up human capital development and skills retention are critical in driving mining output in line with the Government’s US$12 billion mining industry target by end of 2023.

Since 2021 more than 65 young miners from Zimbabwe’s six mining provinces have attended the training sessions supported by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) in partnership with the Young Miners Foundation (YMF) and the ZSM.

In a report issued this month, YMF said the capacity-building program was a game changer as it has imparted expertise on their members to improve mining operations.

“The exercise rewrote and re-defined the small-scale mining narrative as it has seen a significant number of young miners graduating from informal and artisanal mining practices to more formalised and well-structured small-capitalized mining companies all around the country,” said YMF.

Following the training, the report indicates that most participants grouped together in their respective provinces and created small companies to either operate more formalised mining businesses or offer services in the mining value chain.

It said the training has transformed lives for many young people and has recommended that more similar programs be conducted to widen the positive impact on young miners.

“Mashonaland East, Matabeleland South, and Matabeleland North are kindly asking for the training to be done in their provinces as they were left out in the first phase,” reads the report.

“We look forward to getting financial support to do our cutting and polishing of gemstones program and possibly set up a Young Miners Lapidary Unit.”

YMF said the major challenge being faced by members was the lack of access to working capital and equipment to fully function.

It also noted the existence of some pieces of legislation that impede the growth of small-scale miners and bottlenecks in obtaining legal licensing and mineral trading.

Key areas covered by the training include mineral exploration, mineral extraction techniques, and mining law, mineral resource management, mine safety, health and environmental management, mineral processing and smelting, mine finance, and economics among others.

The training idea was developed at the Mineral Export Trade and Value Addition Seminar (METVA) held in Mutare that was hosted by YMF in March 2021.

This was followed by the official launch of the program at the ZSM in Bulawayo in May of the same year where 20 young miners from Matabeleland underwent a three-day part-one pilot training session.

This year YMF says its focus is on growing and stabilising the mining sector toward sustainability in the economy.

YMF chief executive officer, Mr Payne Kupfuwa, said one of their key deliverables is increased formalisation and professionalisation of young miners to create more formal jobs and business opportunities in the mining value chain for the youths. –chronicle.clzw