For a nation that is saying it ought to migrate from being a largely agrarian economy to one that is poised to be propped by mining, the almost radio silence amongst major stakeholders in the wake of the publishing of the new Mines Bill, which may become law, is a tad unsettling to say the absolute least.
Indeed, the last few years have seen government preaching ceaselessly that come 2030, Zimbabwe shall become an upper middle-income economy, buoyed by a US$12 billion contribution to the economy from mining alone.
This is not an Alice in Wonderland target on paper.
The nation has significant mining resources, not least of which is one of the world’s largest platinum deposit whose resource cherry happens to be high grade chromium ores.
Teeming with gold, diamonds, chrome, iron ore, coal and lithium amongst other minerals in her bosom, Zimbabwe has a lot going for her.
And with significant surge in growth of the sector from 2017’s US$2,9 billion to US$9,77 billion in 2023 if numbers being doled around are to be believed, then certainly that feat is within reach.
One of the key issues raised around the challenges facing Zimbabwe’s mining sector has always been a harping on about how the existing law, short titled the Mines and Minerals Act, has not been fit for purpose owing to it being outdated.
Those pushing that narrative may be right; the current Act was crafted in 1961 from whence it has been chiseled and cobbled one amendment after another as all law should be in tune with the changing demands as the sands of time trickle through the hourglass. 🔗 Read Full Article
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