Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe [email protected]
Zanu-PF Matabeleland North province has called for sweeping reforms in the mining sector to unlock the province’s vast mineral potential, promote local participation and ensure greater value is retained from the country’s mineral resources.
The resolutions were adopted on Saturday during the party’s Provincial Inter-District Conference in Lupane ahead of the 23rd National People’s Conference to be held in Chinhoyi in October.
The province wants Government to remove Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs), introduce a “Use It or Lose It” policy for mining claims and reform land-use policies to give local communities greater opportunities to participate in mining and other economic activities.
The resolutions come as the province seeks to leverage its mineral resources to drive employment creation, beneficiation and broad-based economic empowerment, particularly among youths and local investors.
The province resolved, “That the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development remove Exclusive Protection Orders (EPO) to allow local investors and the youths to engage in mining activities and that a Policy of “Use It or Lose It” be implemented to deter Multinational Companies to continue holding large mining claims for speculative purposes and that land use Policy reforms be implemented to empower the plot owners in resettlement areas to be given “first refusal option in mining claims and other economic enablers in their farmland.”
The proposed “Use It or Lose It” principle is aimed at discouraging the speculative holding of mining claims by companies that are not actively developing their concessions, while opening opportunities for other investors, including locals and youths.
The province also wants communities and beneficiaries of the land reform programme to have a stronger role in determining economic activities taking place on their land.
In another major resolution, the province called for a dedicated coal mining policy to regulate extraction and promote beneficiation of coal and its associated products.
“That the Ministry of mines come up with coal mining policy regulating sustainable extraction and beneficiation of the product to retain by products like tar, gas, benzene and boost employment opportunities.”
The province’s call is particularly significant for Matabeleland North, which has substantial coal and coal-bed methane resources, with Lupane identified as a major potential hub for coal-methane gas development.
The resolution seeks to move the province away from the export or sale of raw minerals and towards processing that generates additional economic value and employment.
The province also called for the withdrawal of inactive mining special grants to create space for investors with the capacity and commitment to develop the resources.
“That no-functioning special grants in mining with special Veference to Lupane Coal-Methane Gas projects be revoked to allow serious investors a chance.”
The province said dormant concessions were denying the region opportunities to attract capital and unlock projects capable of contributing to employment creation, energy security and industrial development.
Beyond mining, the conference also linked natural-resource exploitation to local industrialisation, calling for the establishment of timber processing factories in Lupane, Binga, Tsholotsho and Nkayi districts.
The province wants local wood resources to be processed within the province rather than being exported or sold in unprocessed form, creating employment and increasing value retention.
It also called on foreign investors to comply with the local supply chain policy by procuring consumables from local businesses.
The province further called for intensified security along the Zambezi River to curb the smuggling of goods and services.
The mining resolutions will now form part of Matabeleland North’s submissions to the ruling party’s 23rd National People’s Conference, where provincial resolutions are expected to feed into broader policy discussions on economic development and empowerment.
The resolutions place mineral beneficiation, local ownership, investment and employment creation at the centre of efforts to translate the province’s resource endowment into tangible economic benefits for its communities.
