adminSukoluhle Ndlovu Midlands Correspondent
Small scale miners have called upon the Government to channel resources such as machines towards the sector to enable them to meet their monthly targets.
In an interview, Zimbabwe Miners Federation Spokesperson Mr Dosman Mangisi said mechanisation of the sector is necessary to ramp up production and meet their monthly targets.
“As ZMF, we are calling appealing to Government to help us mechanise so that we meet our monthly targets.
“We are continuously delivering more gold to Fidelity Printers and Refineries than our large miners, and we want to continue producing good results,” he said.
Mr Mangisi said in the first quarter, gold output for small scale miners was slightly above 4 tonnes against a target of 10 tonnes.
“In the first quarter of the year artisanal miners produced 4,3 tonnes and that was way below our target. In January we produced 1,2 tonnes while in February we produced 1,5 tonnes and in March we managed to produce 1,6 tonnes,” he said.
Mr Mangisi said the federation is working tirelessly to arrest gold leakages in the sector. “As ZMF, we are working hard to bring sanity in the small scale mining sector and to reduce leakages. First quarter statistics of gold deliveries from Fidelity Printers show that small scale miners managed 64,6 per cent of gold deliveries. We want to make sure that all gold output is sold to the Government and that there is no side marketing,” he said.
This year Fidelity Printers and Refiners announced that it will mobilise $100 million to bankroll small-scale mining operations in addition to the $150 million Gold Development Initiative Fund.
Online Reporter