ZIMBABWE Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Council (ZASMC) is finalising a deal with the Allied Bank on a loan scheme facility to fund operations of small-scale miners in the country.
Own Correspondent
ZASMC president Wellington Takavarasha said the deal had almost been finalised and the bank is expected to be disbursing the funds soon.
“Allied Bank has agreed to extend loans to small-scale miners to purchase equipment and we expect everything to be soon finalised,” he said.
He said the loans will be given to registered miners while equipment is to be purchased from Matabeleland Engineering, said to be the sole supplier in the deal.
In July this, ZASMC revealed it had signed a deal with Matabeleland Engineering to supply small-scale miners with equipment specially designed for their operations as part of plans to formalise the sector.
Takavarasha said they would be submitting a proposal to the government to award mining certificates to miners operating in illegal areas.
He was, however, quick to point that mining certificates would only be granted after assessment
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of the mining areas by government officials.
ZAMSC is also in the process of registering 1,5 million small-scale miners countrywide by end of this year, also as part of plans to formalise the sector and improve production output.
Takavarasha, however, said the programme was briefly suspended to await the new Cabinet expected to be announced this week.
According to ZAMSC, as of July this year, only 25 000 small-scale miners had been registered.
Early this year the government, through the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), unveiled a $1 million fund for small-scale miners which could only be accessed by registered players despite the sector significantly contributing to national mineral output.
Small-scale miners last year contributed a third of the national gold production. They are expected to play a critical role in the attainment of the projected 17% growth of the mining sector. ZASMC is expected to conclude joint venture negotiations with the MMCZ to increase output in mineral output.
