Reprieve for small makorokoza

Government has reduced the rate of royalty for small-scale gold miners while it increased the rate for chrome producers, according to new rates gazetted last Friday.

The rate of royalty on gold mined by small- scale producers will be reduced to 1 percent from 3 percent, Clause 18 of the Finance Bill of 2015 said the rate of royalty on chrome will be increased from 2 percent to 5 percent.

The Government is working on a Statutory Instrument to provide legal modalities for exporting chrome ore.

It is estimated that about 1,5 million people are engaged in artisanal mining activities, according to the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and 500 000 are directly employed by the sector. However, only 25 000 are registered in accordance to the Mines and Minerals Regulations Act.

At peak in 2004, small-scale miners produced 17 tonnes before output fell to 12,5 tonnes in 2005. Thereafter, gold remittances plummeted to 917kg before rising to 3,9 tonnes last year.