Small-scale miners call for national strategy, propose $3 million equipment loan scheme

The Federation of Small-Scale Mining Associations of Zambia (FSSMAZ) has called on the government to adopt a comprehensive national strategy to support small-scale miners, arguing that the sector holds significant potential to drive economic diversification, job creation and equitable wealth distribution. FSSMAZ president, Joseph Mwansa, said the small-scale mining sector remained largely overlooked despite its contribution to mineral production and its ability to stimulate economic growth in rural communities. In a telephone interview with Zambia Monitor on Saturday, Mwansa said Zambia was at a “critical juncture” where the country must begin treating small-scale miners as key partners in national development rather than marginal players in the mining industry.

“The small-scale mining sector in Zambia stands at a critical juncture. Often overshadowed by large-scale industrial operations, this sector possesses immense, untapped potential to drive economic diversification, job creation and equitable wealth distribution,” he said. However, he questioned why similar structured support had not been extended to thousands of small-scale miners already extracting minerals across the country.

“Our members sit on mineral deposits yet remain stifled by rudimentary tools like picks and shovels. This inefficiency, particularly in the gemstone sector, leads to low yields and wasted resources,” he said. To address the productivity gap, FSSMAZ has proposed a loan-based empowerment initiative dubbed the Machine Empowerment Pilot Project, aimed at improving mining efficiency through equipment access.

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Under the proposal, government would acquire about 50 second-hand excavators at an estimated cost of between US$50,000 and US$60,000 each, which would be deployed to selected mine sites across the country. The federation suggested that at least four viable small-scale mines per province be selected to benefit from the equipment under a revolving loan arrangement rather than a grant. Mwansa explained that the proposed model would include productivity-linked repayment terms with a flexible moratorium period of between two and three years to allow operations to stabilise.

He said repayments would be structured as a pre-agreed percentage of mineral sales, managed through a transparent system designed to improve compliance and accountability. Participation in the programme would also require formal registration of mines, which Mr Mwansa said would help integrate small-scale miners into the formal tax and royalty system. He warned that failure to formalise the sector had resulted in significant revenue losses for the country, particularly in gold mining.

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