District mining associations revived

improvement in the interaction between producers and their stakeholders.
In a statement, Chamber of Mines senior economist Mr David Matyanga said efforts were already underway to revive the inactive associations.
“As of now efforts are currently underway to revive the Harare District Mining Association as past efforts have indicated little interest from the targeted mineral producers.
“The chamber believes that with a core group of those interested and meeting with other stakeholders in the region momentum can be built that will attract interest from the majority of mineral producers based on the results,” he said.
He added that out of the 20 DMAs that were available countrywide, only the Gwanda, Bulawayo and Midlands DMAs were active.
Mr Matyanga said the reason why some of the DMAs were inactive was due to the lack of appreciation of the DMAs, which has led to their collapse over the years.
The reduction in the number of small and medium-scale mining operations affiliated to the chamber have caused the reduction in attendance overtime.
New players at times may not be aware of the benefits that arise from being part of the association so there is need to make them aware of the benefits available.
The absence of these associations can be viewed as an opportunity loss for mineral producers in terms of getting access to information for developments that will be available in the market.
This, according to Mr Matyanga, mostly affects small and medium-scale mineral producers who may mot have all the resources to interact with these stakeholders on their own.
The absence of these associations may lead to lack of legal compliance arising from being uninformed of opportunities available.
This development comes at a time when the chamber is also in the process of reviewing the issue of mining royalties.
Ideally mining royalties should ensure country development where particular mining operations are based.
The accelerated growth in the use of mining royalties to finance municipal investment, for instance, presents an opportunity for critical infrastructure development in areas that typically receive lesser project funding to the larger cities and towns.