adminThe minister was lampooned left, right and centre for daring to say gold panners were “heroes who deserved to be rewarded”.
But the minister’s statement was informed by the fact that panners had delivered a tonne of gold to Treasury out of the three tonnes delivered since January. The big companies, armed with all the latest mining equipment and technology that money can buy, produced two tonnes of gold during this period.
Taken in that context, Minister Mpofu’s proposal, in our view, makes a lot of sense as Government needs to harness all the revenue that it can lay its hands on given the pressing national needs that need to be addressed. Government had thought of raising money from the mining sector by increase mining licence fees, but after careful consideration and following an outcry from the industry, this has been rescinded.
Zimbabwe is a mineral rich country and we believe these minerals must benefit its people.
Everyone agrees that gold panning is destructive to the environment. In most gold-rich areas such as Matabeleland South and the Midlands, gold panners have wreaked havoc, destroying the environment and river systems. Police have tried to rein them in, but to no avail.
That is why we believe formally recognising the panners and turning them into small-scale miners could not only help in lessening the damage to the environment, but also curb the rampant smuggling of minerals outside the country.
In our view, instead of vilifying the minister and accuse him of politicking, debate should be centred on how best gold panners should be handled. How can the country benefit from gold panning and at the same time avoid destruction of the environment?
In view of the damage that they cause to the environment, we believe there is a need to involve the Ministry of Environment as well as the Environment Management Agency.
Surely, panners and small-scale miners could be taught and shown better ways of extracting minerals from the earth without causing serious damage to the environment. We believe legalising gold panners should be backed up by strong legislation on the protection of the environment. Strict monitoring of their work should also be carried out.
That in our view should be the starting point.
If gold panners can produce a third of all the gold mined in this country, then there is a lot of money to be made in that area and the way to go would be to equip those panners so that they adopt better mining methods.
They need to be properly organised so they can access funding to purchase equipment and go into proper mining. We believe that is not asking for the moon. It can be achieved.
We are encouraged that banks and financial institutions are willing to support small-scale miners as shown by the recent commissioning of equipment for small-scale miners in Umguza.
Already, Tetrad Bank has set aside $1 million as a start-up initiative in a bid to cement relations with small-scale miners. The money is for equipping the miners. Government has also embarked on a programme to equip the small miners with equipment such as boar mills, compressors, generators, drilling accessories and water pumps.
The Zimbabwe School of Mines will provide skilled manpower, technical guidance and training courses for the small-scale miners.
With such support, we have no doubt that gold panners can successfully be turned into proper small-scale miners who will contribute meaningfully to national development.
With resource nationalisation increasingly taking root in Zimbabwe, we believe there is a need for Zimbabweans to benefit from the resources that lie under their land.
The bottom line is that there should be zero tolerance to environmental degradation and those found on the wrong side of the law should be punished heavily.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter