By Rungano Dzikira

Small to medium scale miners hope to dig deep for solutions to retool and access capital at the upcoming mining conference set for November, in Gweru.

Speaking at a pre-conference event held in the capital, Zimbabwe Miners Federation, public relations officer, Dosman Mangisi said most delegates were kin to redress challenges faced in the industry in order to improve production, as such attendance confirmation had surpassed the expected 3 000 delegates.

“The conference was postponed to this November. Attendance confirmation are nearing 4 000 delegates now, we are excited with the numbers,” he said.

“Most of the raised concerns include access to capital and loans since most of these people are small start-ups without collateral to offer to banks, and continuous exploitation from middle-man as most of the miners are ignorant of the process,” he said.

He added that small-scale miners in the country also faced a myriad of challenges which included gold marketing challenges, lack of mechanised equipment and finance, perceived lack of recognition and consultation, high fees and charges and centralisation of mining services, hurdles which they intended to eliminate in order to increase their production by more than fourfold by 2020.

“President Mnangagwa is set to officiate the conference in the city of progress. The conference will be aimed at revolutionising the artisanal and small scale mining sector through formalisation, as well as provide new perspectives on main issues and concerns affecting the artisanal and small mining sector,” added Mangisi.

The conference is being held in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, together with Fidelity Printers and Refiners, Chamber of Mines and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe.