Zimbabwe Parliament says illicit mineral leaks could plunge the country into turmoil

5.0 Committee Recommendations 

By 31 December 2023, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development:

• Should review and amend the diamond policy and legislation on mining and trading of gold in order to integrate artisanal diamond and gold miners in the mainstream mining industry;
• together with Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe and Fidelity Gold Refiners, should deploy officials at regular intervals to conduct inspections and verifications of the operations of big mining companies of precious minerals to ensure that under declaration of minerals at elution plants is curtailed;
• come up with a policy to regulate semi-precious stones produced in the country, in order to curb leakages in that sector;
• Beginning 1 January 2024, Fidelity Printers and Refiners should reduce its time lag in the payment of gold deliveries made by small-scale miners so that more gold finds its way into the formal system. Payment on delivery should be prioritised and a bonus or premiums should be paid for higher quantities so as to encourage trading of gold through formal channels;
• By 31 October 2023, Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe and Fidelity Gold Refiners should assist in providing technical skills training law enforcement agencies and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority personnel at ports of entry on mineral identification and detection in order to enhance their capabilities of identifying minerals on the spot;
• By 31 October 2023, all unlicensed hammer mills that are scattered around the country must be registered by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and steep fines must be imposed on any illegal operations of unlicensed hammer mills;
• By 30 June 2023, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development should review the mining model at Redwing Mine in order to adopt a sustainable mining model that integrates former mine workers and the surrounding community so that leakages are minimised;
• In the 2024 budget, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should allocate adequate financial resources which must be released on time to the security sector, the ZRP in particular, for the purchase of surveillance equipment, detection devices, all-terrain patrol vehicles and motorbikes, heavy duty weighing scales, computers (laptops), communication devices and other accessories required in manning the country’s ports of entry including the long stretch of the country’s borderline;
• By December 2023, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Companies and Anjin Investments should ensure that families currently residing in designated diamond concessions or Special Grant Areas are properly relocated in well-established resettlement sites that can sustain the affected families;
• By 2027 the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, in collaboration with platinum mining companies, should construct a platinum refinery plant to allow for processing of platinum locally as a means of enhancing beneficiation as well as curbing leakages.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage and all the other ministries providing security in gold and diamond fields, must ensure that deployment of law enforcement personnel in those sites is strictly on a rotational basis to avoid the same officers overstaying in those areas. This will contribute to curbing alleged collusion and corruption involving state security in gold and diamond fields.

6.0 Conclusion 

Minerals are a major contributor to the country’s socioeconomic development. All forms of illicit activities in the mining, processing and marketing of minerals risk plunging our country into economic, social and political turmoil. When the economy bleeds, political mischief and social unrest become imminent thereby threatening national security.  Indeed, safeguarding minerals is not for law enforcement agencies alone; rather, it is everyone’s responsibility. State institutions, private entities, civil society organisations and the general public have the responsibility to jealously guard the country’s mineral wealth. A whole-of-society approach on plugging mineral leakages is critical now than ever before in order to promote sustainable development, peace and security. Let us all work together to stop mineral leakages.

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