Small scale miners fret over high levies
TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
Small scale miners in Matabeleland North Province have appealed to the government over the high levies charged by local authorities and the Environmental Management Agency which are hampering operations.
Addressing stakeholders in Bulawayo, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation youth secretary for Matebeleland North Province, Nkululeko Ngwenya, said the responsible authorities should take a look into the issue.
“For the mine inspection fee, we are charged US$300 while the council wants US$250 and US$400 respectively. These fees are exorbitant for a small scale miner. It becomes a nightmare to try and raise such an amount of money,” Ngwenya said.
He added: “We are asking the government to consider reducing them so that small scale miners remain afloat. What’s failing us to register are the high fees needed by the government.”
Zimbabwe has over 4,000 gold deposits, the world’s second-largest stores of platinum group metals, and the world’s second-largest reserves of high-grade chromium ores.
Sibonile Ngwenya a miner in Bubi district, Matabeleland North province said most miners were failing to register because of the high fees.
“It becomes a nightmare to meet all the requirements needed. So, we are asking the government to consider those fees. At least if the levies are reduced we are able to proceed with our mining activities,” she said.
The small-scale miners feared the overpriced rates and levies charged by local authorities might force many to engage in illegal mining activities
The mining sector contributes over 60% of the country’s export receipts which is used to oil the economy through the importation of raw materials for production and drugs.
Large scale miners retain 60% of their export proceeds which are treated as free funds and cannot be liquidated with the balance being paid in local currency at the prevailing auction rate.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe gold producer Metallon Corporation lost one of its employees on Monday this week after he was fatally injured while doing his underground mining operations at How Mine in Bulawayo.
