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Mashonaland Central Correspondent
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development must implement measures to ensure the “ease of doing business” at their offices to allow artisanal miners to formalise their operations, Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation deputy secretary-general Mrs Lindi Mpofu has said.

She said artisanal miners produced 4,2 tonnes of the yellow metal in the first quarter of 2018, beating large-scale miners that produced three tonnes during the period. Speaking during a stakeholders indaba held in Bindura recently under the theme “Creating a conducive environment for sustainable mining development for Vision 2030”, aimed at sensitising Bindura miners on compliance, fundamentals and modern mining developments, Mrs Mpofu said it was time that they get the recognition they deserved.

“We urge the Ministry of Mines to introduce the ‘ease of doing business’ to improve its operations,” she said. “Registration of miners should be done on time unlike what is happening now where there is no timeframe, which frustrated potential foreign investors.

“It is time we should be taken seriously as businesspeople and get the recognition that we deserve just like our counterparts, the large-scale miners. After all, we contribute more to the fiscus. We have realised that when we call for stakeholders meetings, Government departments come unprepared to answer our questions.”