'Govt to regulate omakorokoza'

GOVERNMENT has decided to formalise artisanal mining to regulate its activities and plug leakages costing the country millions of dollars in revenue, Mines minister Winston Chitando has indicated.

Chitando said this at the weekend in Mazowe during the launch of the Mashonaland Central chapter of the Miners for Economic Development (Miners4ED) chapter.

"We want artisanal miners to be organised and mine in an orderly manner.  We don't want to see holes everywhere. You will be working with big companies like Metallon Gold. We don't want revenue leakages, and we want to support our President Emmerson Mnangagwa's mining vision." Chitando told artisanal miners under the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF).

He said next month government would commission a gold centre at Jumbo Mine in Mazowe, as part of the formalisation of artisanal miners.

"We are commissioning a gold processing centre in Mazowe, Mashonaland Central in December this year. This will enable the government to collect revenue through the central bank to enable development of the economy through mining activities."

ZMF president Henrietta Rushwaya said the Miners4ED initiative would be launched countrywide at provincial level.

"All provincial groupings will come up with one main grouping at the national launch of Zimbabwe Miners4ED, the brainchild of the ZMF youths. As ZMF we give them our blessings to forge synergies with the Ministry of Mines," Rushwaya said.