Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-Poor legislation and porous borders have created an economically damaging scenario for the country with only a fraction of mined gold being sold at Fidelity Printers and Refiners, an official has said.
The rest of the minerals are being proliferated out of the country as exemplified by the revelations that Zimbabwe has lost up to $15 billion of diamond monies.
Speaking at a Zimcodd function in Harare Dr Daniel Shumba, Masvingo legislator for Zanu PF, said the absence of clear legislation empowering artisanal miners to operate had pushed them into illegal activities despite their producing a large part of the gold output for the country.
“It’s because of poor legislation that allows Zimbabwe to be a source of illicit mineral transactions across the border”
“Whatever gold is sold at Fidelity is only a small fraction of the total gold that is being mined. We know our borders are porous.
“It’s an issue of economic fundamentals”
“Why would one accept less money for the same item? So we need to refine the process of licensing people who are into artisanal mining”, he said.
Dr Shumba added that it shouldn’t be up to an “individual whether artisinal miners are arrested or not but they should be a law that clearly states what the position is”.
Zimbabwe’s gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refineries went up almost 16% to close at 21,4 tonnes earning the country $914 million in 2016.
Gold demand this year has been expected to be driven by trends in the global economy including heightened political and geopolitical risks, currency depreciating, rising inflation expectations and inflated stock market valuations.
Government has since instituted the creation of a command mining programme as part of measures to ramp up mineral production in the country though some have criticised the idea citing corruption and nepotism.
Under the scheme the country’s gold mining sector targets to deliver 32 tonnes of gold to Fidelity from 28 last year.
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