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The Mines and Minerals Act empowers the Government to repossess unutilised mining concessions.
This provision is meant to prevent speculative holding of the valuable assets. In addition, it is meant to promote investment, job creation and ensure broader access to mining assets.
However, the Government has not exercised the powers bestowed on it by the law.
Instead of taking a stance that would be radical but permissible at law, authorities have many times over the past 20 years or so urged companies to utilise the properties while threatening to have the unused claims repossessed as provided for under the relevant Act.
In October last year, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Winston Chitando, made the same point, warning that from January this year, the Government would harden its approach by effecting the use-it-or-lose-it principle.
He reiterated the message in February this year, saying the Government was coming up with regulations that will enunciate the approach to be used in executing the decision by the end of this month.
The Chamber of Mines, the minister added, had been contacted for possible suggestions on the way forward.
He made a shocking observation then that in a province he did not name, a company has been sitting on a potentially rich gold concession for 49 years.
President Mnangagwa, addressing Zanu-PF youths in Harare recently, reiterated the use-it-or-lose-it plan, remarks that signal the Government’s seriousness in making sure that the law as it relates to unutilised mining concessions is applied.
On Monday, Minister Chitando was on it again. “Mimosa Mine holds six percent of platinum reserves only but is doing a great job,” he said in Masvingo.
“Other mines have reserves lying idle [and] they are not operational. We have given these companies up to 30 April to bring comprehensive plans over these concessions. We use the ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ concept and we are going to revoke their licences through making use of the Mines and Mining Minerals Act.”
The fact that the Government has been vocal on idle mining assets is clear testimony that we have a big challenge in an area that holds obvious economic potential.
There, indeed, is immense value that is just idle yet there are many companies with the interest and financial and technical capacity to extract that value for their benefit as investors and that of the country.
It is not good that the economy is struggling, thousands are desperate for jobs and many areas are yearning for development yet we have so much wealth buried underground as concession holders continue to play games.
The speculating companies are advised to take the Government’s message with the seriousness it deserves.
Also, whatever plans the speculators are going to submit to the ministry, must obviously be time-bound with clear measurable targets spelt out.
But beyond the plans, the direction we all yearn for is one that leads them to start putting money into developing the assets which are national, God-given assets anyway thus don’t really belong to the companies before development and can be repossessed without breaking the law.
However, it will not be a good development if authorities end up doing so because that would send wrong signals to existing investors in our country and those that might consider investing here in future.
To avoid such a confrontation, which is unlikely to occur; companies in question must simply do the needful.
We find the conciliatory approach that the Government has taken to be the best under the circumstances.
The contact with the Chamber of Mines should enable the mining companies, through their representative body, to give their input into how they propose to monetise the claims or to submit their plans to that end.
It is worth noting too that the step that the Government has taken came after multiple warnings have been made to the companies to use their concessions or risk losing them.
In our view the Government would, from the end of this month on, have exhausted all the avenues to prompt the speculators into the desired action.
The significance and potential of mining our country is not to be underestimated.
Last year, the country earned US$2,38 billion through mineral export earnings with hopes to expand the revenue to US$12 billion annually in the next few years.
Experts have repeatedly asserted that Zimbabwe is the richest nation on earth with respect to untapped natural resources per capita.
Our country has the world’s largest diamond reserves, second largest platinum reserves after South Africa and almost 50 exploitable minerals.
The people of Zimbabwe must derive tangible benefits from these riches; they must not continue taking non-existent comfort in touting the number of minerals their country is endowed with while the minerals are untapped and they (the people) remain poor.
And for them to derive the benefits, companies that are sitting on claims must heed the Government’s call to utilise them and do so now.
Online Reporter