Zimbabwe: Chamber of Mines Seeks to Sell Gold for Producers
24 March 2009
allafrica.com
Harare — THE Chamber of Mines is seeking to sell gold on behalf of producers following the end of marketing monopoly by Fidelity Printers early this year.
The system would be voluntary and is likely to be in place before the end of this month, said Mr Douglas Verden, the chamber senior executive.
The new gold marketing regime ended the gold buying monopoly enjoyed by Fidelity Printers and Refiners, the gold-dealing subsidiary of the RBZ early this year.
Producers are now able to sell their bullion "wherever they wish" and keep 100 percent of their foreign currency earnings.
But the centralised marketing system would be more efficient and cheaper, according to Mr Verden.
Already, small gold producers have already made calls to authorities to resume buying their gold as it was not viable to find their own markets.
"We have made considerable progress . . . we are hoping to have the system in place by end of this month," Mr Verden told Herald Business.
"It is a voluntary arrangement. We believe the system will be generally good."
Zimbabwe Miners Federation, an organisation that represents small-scale producers said most small scale miners produced small quantities that it would not be viable for them to do business on an individual basis.
"We have no buyers as of now. Miners don't have anywhere to sell their gold," its president Mr Wellington Takavarasha told media recently.
Most gold firms last year closed after central bank failed to pass on US$30 million in earnings from gold sales, in some cases since late 2007.
Producers were left without money to sustain day to day operations.
Gold is traditionally one of Zimbabwe's major foreign currency earners.
It used to be the third foreign currency earner before exports began falling over the past decade. Its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product also drastically fell as some mining firms failed to implement expansion projects as a result of macro economic challenges.
The mining sector has been hamstrung by foreign exchange shortages to renew equipment and replenish supplies.
Shortages of cyanide, drill steel and compressor spares have also hampered gold production.
The sector was also among the hardest hit by the flight of skilled workforce, which left the country for greener pastures. The mining sector, according to Chamber of Mines lost over 40 000 skilled labour.
From the year 2000 peak of 30 tonnes, gold output has progressively declined.
However, the new dispensation in gold marketing has seen some companies that have closed down, announcing their intentions to re-open.
These include Mwana Africa, which also produces nickel and TSX listed New Dawn, which owns Turk, and Angelus mines. |
