adminSmall-scale miners have described the proposed increases as “hefty and retrogressive” in terms of promoting mining activities by miners in the sector as they will not afford to raise the required funding.
According to a draft schedule seen by our Harare Bureau, ground rentals per annum are expected to rise from $10 per five claims to $1 000 per hectare while a gold-buying licence would rise from $2 500 to $5 000.
“We have made our submissions to the Ministry of Finance to review upwards the mining fees. We want the miners to release some of the claims which they are holding onto so that the land can be redistributed to prospective miners who can utilise the claims,” said Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire.
Of late, Government has expressed concern over the underutilised claims that some large firms were said to be holding onto for speculative reasons.
As a result, this has compelled the Government to adopt the “use it or lose it” policy to be enshrined in the forthcoming Mines and Minerals Amendment Act to be promulgated soon.
The draft schedule also shows that a custom milling licence which was previously pegged at $2 000 will now be pegged at $8 000 while toll smelters will have to fork out $5 000.
A licence to cut diamonds will rise to $100 000 from $20 000 while the application fees for an ordinary prospector’s licence for platinum will have to increase from $150 to $500 000 and the registration fee will be pegged at $2,5 million up from $300.
The fees are paid once-off and are non-refundable.
For diamonds, the registration fee will remain at $1 million although a once-off and non-refundable registration fee of $5 million will be introduced if the proposals are approved.
Diamond cutting and polishing licence is expected to rise from $20 000 to $100 000 while a person seeking registration as a prospector would have to pay $5 000 per year, up from $100.
He said: “Already there has been a public outcry over the proposed gigantic mining fees. And if there is any argument from the miners we are prepared to negotiate based on facts, for example, they show us their balance sheets to authenticate their inability to pay.
“When the proposed schedule was prepared, our directors overlooked coming up with a schedule for small-scale miners and we have requested them to work on that.”
Small-scale miners complained that the proposed hefty increases worked against the Government’s Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policy.
Deputy Minister Chimanikire said reviewing mining fees upwards was a deliberate approach strategically designed by Government to raise funding to support small-scale miners through programmes such as the Mining Industry Loan Fund.
The Mining Industry Loan Fund creates an opportunity for Government to procure mining equipment for small-scale miners.
Since the launch of the Mining Industry Loan Fund in the past few years, Government managed to secure basic mining machinery such as jackhammers, water pumps, and compressors to facilitate small-scale
mining activities throughout Zimbabwe’s five mining regions.
Mr Chimanikire also said some of the proposed mining fees are expected to capacitate his ministry in executing its duties, adding that in the past they have been relying on resources from the fiscus.
Against this background, he said, his ministry has not been able to retain qualified staff such as engineers and geologists.
He said in 2010, mineral exports amounted to $4 billion but his ministry received $120 million, which was inadequate to support the ministry in its programmes.
The mining sector is one of Zimbabwe’s key economic enablers expected to contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product. In 2010, the mining industry contributed 20 percent to the GDP compared to a 4
percent contribution achieved in 2009.
Online Reporter