By Nyasha Mutena, ZiMining Reporter
Government is drafting a chrome policy that will cater for small scale miners who are being neglected by the current policy, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Honourable Polite Kambamura has said.
Zimbabwe boasts of an abundance of chrome deposits but small scale miners have been elbowed out of mining by the the present policy.
Speaking during a Chrome all stakeholders consultative meeting, Deputy Minister Kambamura said it was high time for small scale miners to play a crucial role in chrome mining.
“Zimbabwe has the 2nd largest chrome deposit in the world, we are planning on how much each mineral can contribute to the GDP-2023.
“As we are currently drafting the chrome policy we want to assure small scale chrome suppliers that it will cater for them as well because they are being neglected,” said Hon Kambamura.
Speaking on the same event, Mr Tongai Muzenda the General Manager of Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe urged miners and suppliers to shun corruption in their trading.
He said there was an urgent need to minimize the opportunities of underhand dealings in the mining industry because they are detrimental to the country.
“I encourage all stakeholders to be clean, efficient and ethical in all their handlings, ” he said.
Zimbabwe Miners Federation President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya decried the low pricing of chrome by predatory buyers.
“You will find that predatory buyers are rampant on the Great Dyke which compromises the prices because you cannot expect to get good quality chrome at a very low price hence these buyers end up getting rocks which will not fetch them much because at the end of the day our miners need to survive,” said Ms Rushwaya.
Chairman of the Confederation of Ferrochrome Industries of Zimbabwe Mr John Musekiwa lamented the load shedding of electricity saying it is crippling the ferrochrome industry.
He said the country being landlocked it is very expensive and difficult to transport ferrochrome.
“Our country is landlocked therefore transporting ferrochrome becomes very expensive because usually our suppliers hire trucks which normally charge per hour,” he said.
Zimbabwe has a total of 14 chrome smelters.
Recently, Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando urged small scale chrome miners to double their production if they are to fully utilise the 1billion stainless steel plant to be set up by a Chinese investor.
