By ZBC Reporter
THE Small Scale Mining Sector is casting the net wide to improve production amid plans to formalise half a million artisanal miners this year.
With a target of over thirty tonnes of gold this year, the Small-Scale Mining Sector is working on concrete plans to boost production.
Speaking to ZBC News Zimbabwe Miners Federation Secretary-General Mr Morgan Mugawu said the sector will among other strategies register half a million artisanal miners, which could result in increased deliveries of the yellow metal to Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
We have about 1.5 million artisanal miners in the country, and this year we will register five hundred thousand which we will do in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Fidelity printers. So we will require just a minimum of 2 grammes each, which means in one month we will have 1 tonne from artisanal miners. By the end of the year they should contribute 10 tonnes while the other 20 or so tonnes will come from small scale miners, he highlighted.
The initiative is meant to close the gap which saw the sector contributing only 20 tonnes of gold out of a target of 40 tonnes.
A Zimbabwe Miners Federation executive meeting held this Tuesday in Harare also resolved to source critical mechanisation equipment to boost output, while also reinstating suspended President, Ms Henrietta Rushwaya.
The small-scale mining sector remains a critical pillar which is expected to contribute to the national vision of a 12 billion United States dollar mining economy by 2023.
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