Irvin Chinyenze, the secretary general of the Gold Miners Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) that represents small-scale gold miners, urged the government to recognise that the small mining firms were collectively major players in the national economy who should be afforded facilities and resources including access to funding from banks.
Whilst we appreciate that banks need security but to ask for collateral worth up to US$50 000 its just being unreasonable. Our members are small scale miners the pick and shovel type we therefore need tailor-made facilities just like they have in agriculture to boost productivity, said Chinyenze.
He said despite owning 65 percent of mining land in the country the sector has failed to translate their numerical advantage into productivity due to the many bottlenecks evident in their operations a situation that has seen the big companies with just over 30 percent of mining land making the huge contribution to the fiscus.
Chinyenze said with adequate support the small-scale mining sector could be a panacea to the countrys unemployment rate currently estimated at anything above 90 percent. The GMAZ boss said his association has over 1000 members who were each capable of producing an average of 400 grammes of gold per month, adding that the sector could achieve more if adequately supported by financial institutions as well as the government through the ministry of mines. Mining is the countrys second largest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) after agriculture.
Post published in: News
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