Itai Ndongwe
HARARE – The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has temporarily stopped the
issuance of claims – until further notice – for diamonds, copper, lithium, nickel and rare earth minerals citing an unusual increase in applications for claims.
This come as miners in the country have been accused of hiding mineral discoveries and fleecing the economy of billions of dollars, a situation that has forced the Mines ministry to introduce stringent measures and frequent inspections.
In letter dated 19 December this year, the permanent secretary of Mines Kunaka, said
that the application process will be barred for minerals which include the following:
Diamond, Copper, Lithium, Nickel and Rare earth minerals.
“We have of late seen a flooding of applications for mining titles for minerals which
have now been deemed strategic in the upcoming Mines and Minerals Amendment
Bill. It has thus become necessary that in the national interest we temporarily stop
acceptance and processing of applications for mining titles until further notice,”
Kunaka.
He said the ministry had found that some miners have not been declaring the discovery of different minerals at their mines.
Kunaka said given the leakage of minerals in the mining sector, frequent inspections would be done, while officials would be required to submit monthly reports effective from December 19, 2022.
He added that the government has directly ensured that on application for inspection
certificates, the applicant must submit a declaration of amount of work carried out as
well as a declaration of minerals contained in the ore body being mined as this will
be backed by an assay certificate issued by an approved laboratory.
This will mitigate the leakages of minerals as the miner will provide the full details on
their claims which will be full information to the government to trace if there any
other minerals which are being smuggled out of the country.
“Given the proliferation of leakages of minerals, you are required to ensure frequent
targeted inspections to present this practice and loses. You are also required to submit
monthly reports of such inspections,” he said.
