dyton mupawaenda
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
ONLY 40 of the more than 300 exclusive prospecting orders issued by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development are being used with the rest believed to be held for speculative purposes and blocking access to minerals for genuine miners.
This week, officials from the Mines Ministry led by Permanent Secretary Mr Pfungwa Kunaka appeared before the National Assembly Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development chaired by Bindura South legislator Cde Remigious Matangira to describe the extent of the problem of unused exclusive prospecting orders.
An exclusive prospecting order confers exclusive rights to prospect for specified minerals in any identified location and are issued for three years, renewable up to a maximum of six years.
Chief Ministry geologist Mr Forbes Mugambate said the vast majority of exclusive prospecting orders were not being used and, more importantly, were blocking others from prospecting and mining on the covered land.
“That is where the major problem is. All this other ground that the over 270 EPOs apply to is closed to other players,” he said.
Any land that is under an exclusive prospecting order cannot be used by anyone unless they get permission from the order’s holder.
Cde Matangira said there were allegations that some holders of exclusive prospecting orders were charging prospective miners up to US$50 000 to gain access to the land with reports that some holders were Ministry employees.
Mr Kunaka said the Ministry was going through all the exclusive prospecting orders to ascertain whether they were of any benefit to the country.
“No EPO will be spared under this process that we are undertaking. I think the issue is to gather the facts around each application, we see whether or not there is anything we derive as a country in terms of benefit, if there is no benefit we will set these aside.
“Minister Zhemu Soda is looking at these issues with the guidance of the principal, President Mnangagwa. Just bear with us and have confidence that we are now on the path of dealing with these flaws which are outstanding. That is the assurance I can give for now,” Mr Kunaka said.
He said the vetting exercise is expected to be complete by the end of this quarter.
Cde Matangira said the President’s wish was for the mining industry to anchor the country’s development.
“The President wants the mining industry to be the cornerstone of the country’s development through value addition to the country’s minerals,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kunaka said the Ministry was failing to monitor whether mining companies were observing safety and environmental protection guidelines in their operations.
“We have adequate manpower but if we could get more resources like vehicles and fuel, we could have more inspections. At the moment our staff are spending more time in the offices than in the field,” he said, adding that some companies were last inspected five years ago.
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