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THE Zimbabwe Women in Mining will early next year close a deal worth an estimated US$2 million with an undisclosed South African financier to purchase equipment and to obtain a gold dealer’s licence, an official has said. ZWM is board that represents the interests of small-scale women miners in the country under the ambit of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and has over 2 000 members.
ZWM president Ms Evelyn Musharu said the association was also aiming to up production in the coming year.
“We are currently negotiating with a South African investor for over US$2 million to purchase equipment and to get a gold dealer’s licence from Government,” Ms Musharu said.
“We spoke to the investor this week and we hope to conclude the deal early next year if things go the way we think they will. We want to revamp production in the coming year boosted by the availability of equipment.”
According to the Mines and Mining Development Ministry small-scale miners have contributed 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s gold output in the first nine months of 2013 despite funding challenges. Ms Musharu said lack of adequate equipment was negatively affecting mining operations.
“Currently, mining is difficult without some of the basic equipment we want. When we get the money we are expecting, we want to purchase machinery such as generators, pumps, excavators, compressors and jack hammers.
“Once we have these certainly production will go up from the current levels to about 20 kilogrammes per month,” she said.
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