Miners Push For Idle Land Under EPOS To Be Tributed To Small Scale Operators

Legally acquiring mining claims is a major challenge for several small-scale miners in Gwanda. Image by Reuters

BY AMANDA NCUBE | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | JUN 25, 2021

Youths and women in Gwanda say there's too much land under Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs) lying idle hindering them from accessing land, now the government says it is addressing the imbalance.

GWANDA (The Citizen Bulletin) — For more than six years, Qiniso Ncube (31) from Gwanda District has been working in several mines dotted around Matabeleland South Province. He believes he has acquired vast experience to start his own mining venture.

However, his major challenge is on legally acquiring mining claims as most land is said to be under Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs).

“As a youth with an interest in mining, it’s my desire to have my own claim. From there I wish to expand my mining activities. Unfortunately, when I went to the Ministry of Mines offices they told me that they were not issuing any prospective licenses as there is no mining land available,” narrates Ncube to The Citizen Bulletin.

“I have been working for other people on their claims for a long time and I believe I can use the experience that I have acquired over the years to start my own business.”
Qiniso Ncube, a 31-year-old aspiring mine owner

Ncube and several small-scale miners in the region are facing the same predicament as they struggle to legalise their operations. They are appealing to the mining authorities to fairly distribute mining claims so that youths and locals can also benefit.

About 95 per cent of mining land which hosts potential gold deposits in Matabeleland South is under EPOs.

This means the land has been acquired by companies with the capacity to mine at a large scale.

However, a vast part of it lies idle.

The mining sector is one of the country’s biggest foreign currency earners alongside tobacco. Gold is expected to contribute US$4billion earnings per annum by 2023, which is a third of the US$12 billion targets for the entire mining industry in the same period.

Calls have been made for the government to focus on formalising the small-scale miners as they produce 60 per cent of the gold in the country.

Failure to access claims has forced some aspiring miners to engage in illegal mining activities.

Prosper Moyo* from Mangwe District has given up hopes of formalising his mining activities due to bottlenecks.

“I don’t bother to register my mining activities anymore because I have failed to obtain a claim on countless occasions. I am always told by mining authorities that there is no land available for prospecting because of EPOs. I have seen it better to engage in illegal activities because authorities are failing us yet they are quick to warn us against illegal mining.”
Prosper Moyo*

“Holders of most of these EPOs are big companies which are not local. This is highly unfair as people from other regions are benefiting at the expense of locals who are the rightful custodians of these resources,” he laments.

In Matabeleland South, about 95 percent of land which has potential gold deposits is under EPOs. Image by Unsplash

As an intervention measure, the Mines ministry has engaged multiple claim holders to cede or tribute some of their claims to small-scale miners on a tenure basis.

Siduduzile Masilela who is the treasurer for Simalu Mining Association based in Gwanda says as women in the mining sector, they are struggling to expand their operations citing EPOs.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Matabeleland South provincial chairman, Philemon Mokuele says small-scale miners in the province have travelled as far as Harare in order to meet with EPO holders but have failed.

He says the Ministry of Mines has to do more than direct EPO holders to tribute do some of their claims to small-scale miners.

“There is a need for legislation that guarantees locals a stake in EPOs. Some of these EPO holders are just holding onto the land and not producing. However, they continue to have their licenses renewed.”

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“Small-scale miners contribute significantly towards gold production in the country and they should be allocated claims so that they can be more productive,” he says.

However, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Matabeleland South acting Provincial Mining Director, Khumbulani Mlangeni says following a sustained outcry from miners in the region, the Ministry is working on reducing the amount of land under EPOs.

An application to the Mining Affairs Board requesting land under EPOs in the province to be reduced has been lodged, he says.

“As an office, we have written to the Mining Affairs Board to reduce the amount of land under EPOs so that people can access mining claims. We have also proposed that all those who submit their applications under EPOs have their hectarage reduced by 25 per cent,” he says.

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