Staff Reporter

President of the Zimbabwe Mining Federation, Henrietta Rushwaya, has applauded Government for supporting and incentivising the Artisanal and Small Scale Miners (ASM), which she credits for the increased gold production in the past two years, despite the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking during a workshop recently, Rushwaya, acknowledged the contribution by the ASM towards the country’s gold reserve and the US$12 billion mining industry by 2023.

“There are more than 1.5 million ASM in the country… A vibrant sector with production levels by them averaging 60% of the total annual production as recorded at Fidelity Gold Refineries for the past 5 years.

“Of note is marked improvement of gold deliveries for the first month of January this year where the ASM sector delivered 2.4 tonnes, over the years, the ASM sector would deliver averagely 400kgs for the first month of each year,” said Rushwaya.

Meanwhile, in its efforts to augment the drive toward the US$12 billion by 2023, the Ministry of Mines and Mining development revealed that it had managed to establish over 20 gold centres across the country to curb illegal leakages of bullion and promote the official sale to the state buyer Fidelity Printers and Refinery.  The gold service centre is an establishment where all the functions related to gold mining from extracting to processing and sales are coordinated from.