Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo
Zimpapers Business Hub
Small-scale miners have appealed for Government assistance in mineral exploration, saying this will assist in discovering new deposits to reduce time and resources spent on manual sampling.
The Government continues to emphasise the need for artisanal and small-scale miners to formalise their operations for sustainability and accountability, given ASMs strategic position as the backbone of the gold sub-sector.
In recognition of the sub-sector’s strategic importance, the Government supports small-scale mining in the area of exploration and mine development through financial schemes, equipment provision, and technical training.
The Government has established the Gold Development Fund and the Mining Industry Loan Fund (MILF), which are revolving funds designed to provide accessible loans to small-scale miners for procuring modern equipment and scaling operations.
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, in collaboration with institutions like the Zimbabwe School of Mines, offers short courses and technical support to equip miners with skills in sustainable mining practices, mine geology, mine survey and management.
It is estimated that the number of artisanal and small-scale miners in Zimbabwe varies from between 500 000 to over 1,5 million, including farmers who do some gold panning during the agriculture off-season.
Many small-scale gold miners are involved in gold extraction, but also mine other minerals like lithium, diamonds and gemstones.
However, to achieve a more organised small-scale mining sector, industry players said there was need to determine what is beneath the ground to channel resources to productive areas.
Young Miners Foundation chief executive officer Mr Payne Kupfuwa said exploration was a key starting point towards establishing more formalised and professional small-scale mining enterprises.
“Exploration will depict underground geology before we start any extraction because lately, we have been having difficulties because most of the miners have been mining (open pits) without exploration, thereby degrading the environment as they sometimes open the pits and find that there are no resources in the area,” said Mr Kupfuwa.
“If we do proper exploration, miners will know where to sink their shafts and we will not waste money by investing at a place we don’t know what’s underground.
“As small-scale miners, we should rather invest more money in exploration than in anything else, because it will give us direction before starting anything and it also helps with budgets expected in whatever project you need to start.”
He said the Government should help small-scale miners in exploration, organising companies and equipment to help establish the sector in a more explored mining enterprise or mining project.
“The Government should intervene by creating small capitalised companies, help them get equipment and exploration done on affordable fees so that every small-scale miner will be able to do exploration before they start their mining projects,” he said.
The small-scale mining sector contributes about 65 percent of gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refineries, underscoring its growing importance to Zimbabwe’s mining industry as the Government’s formalisation drive for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gains momentum.
In an interview, small-scale miner Mr Sipho Mafu echoed calls for increased Government support, particularly in exploration and access to essential mining equipment.
“Exploration is key. It helps us understand the resources we are sitting on and determine the lifespan of our mines,” he said.
“We have heard that geological equipment is available, and we urge the Government to deploy it across provinces so more miners can benefit.”
Mining experts say the sustained growth of the ASM sector will largely depend on full formalisation, which would improve safety and environmental compliance while enabling the Government to broaden the tax base and ensure miners benefit from coordinated support programmes.
With small-scale miners already forming the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gold deliveries, stakeholders believe targeted reforms and innovative financing solutions could propel the sector to new production highs and further strengthen foreign currency earnings.
Meanwhile, small-scale gold miners have set an ambitious production target of 60 tonnes in 2026, calling on the Government to urgently address funding, regulatory and operational bottlenecks to unlock the sector’s full potential.
