By Business Reporter
Friday 9 October 2020
LOCAL – HARARE (Mining Index) – THE Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) today signed three mining agreements with various strategic partners including two local firms and one international partner.
CBZ Bank, CMED and AliJapan786 Zimbabwe Limited today agreed to grow and develop the artisanal and small-scale miners in Zimbabwe.
The Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) seek to promote gold buying from small scale miners, create a fuel scheme for small-scale miners, avail ZMF/vehicle loan scheme to miners, including mining mechanisation programs.
ZMF partnered with ALIJAPAN786 as the motor vehicle supplying partner for its mining sector on special teams.
In his vote of thanks message, ZMF General Council Chairman Makumba Nyenje said at least 200 vehicles including mining equipment is expected in the country before the end of the year.
In September this year, ZMF acquired a gold buying permit from Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR).
I her speech, ZMF president Henrietta Rushwaya said in order to mop up all the gold from the ASM sector and pay miners timely, her Federation has the capacity ‘to buy as little as a point of gold and paying cash in USD’.
“ZMF shall be using CMED facilities dotted around the country to supply fuel to its members. The fuel will be dispensed from CMED fuel depots around the country. CMED will print coupons uniquely marked with ZMF logos. These will be sold from designated ZMF offices/agents,” said Rushwaya.
Rushwaya said cash will be accessed from CBZ branches.
“ZMF personnel at all ZMF gold buying centres will hand over any bullion transacted equivalent to cash disbursed to CBZ-ZMF vaults for transit to Harare (all transaction will be balanced daily basis),” said Rushwaya.
CBZ Bank executive director Lawrence Nyazema said, “We do not take for granted the opportunity that we have been given to be your partners. As CBZ, we see this as the beginning of a long standing relationship. When we look at our group, we are structured in a way that when miners have the fuel, when you are being paid your cash, we will then look at the next stages of your life. As Zimbabweans, we should be asking ourselves, until when are our small-scale miners going to be seen as the bottom end of society when they generate over a billion USD dollars every year. So we would want you to start generating wealth for your future families,”
Guest of Honour at the signing ceremony, who is also the ZMF patron, the Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando, said achieving the US$12 billion economy feeds into President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of transforming Zimbabwe into a middle income economy by 2030.
“Economic development is not an event but a process. The groundwork for the achievement of the vision by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa has clearly been set out including mining,”
“Specific to the mining sector we have various developments taking place. The mining sector is slowly moving towards optimum extraction of its mineral resources. By the nature of its geology, small scale mining is as equally important as Large Scale Miners,”
“Success is anchored on the good communication between miners representative bodies, Chamber of Mines and ZMF. I applaud ZMF for being always there. We have some players asking for intervention, I encourage them to join one of these two organizations because they represent the interests of the miners in the country,” said Chitando.
Chitando said government will soon unveil various capacity building programmes towards achieving the $12 billion mining sector target by 2023.
“Government will soon unveiling other capacity building programmes to ensure that miners will fully extract and add value to the economy. ZMF will be heavily involved. It is happening, it’s in the pipeline,” said the minister. ENDS// www.miningindex.co.zw
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