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Chamber seeks clarity on ground takeovers

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THE Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe may soon engage government over compulsory acquisition of excess mining ground by the State.

THE Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CMZ) may soon engage government over compulsory acquisition of excess mining ground by the State amid concerns that the new “use it or lose policy” may affect mineral output. Report by Tarisai Mandizha

CMZ president Winston Chitando told journalists on Tuesday that the chamber is currently preparing a paper that will soon be presented to government as it seeks clarity on the mining policy.

“The issue of excess land is an input we are putting in the mineral development policy. The chamber wants to understand the definition of excess land and how it should be handled when deemed to be in excess,” said Chitando.

Chitando’s call comes after the government announced plans to repossess over 27 000 hectares of land from platinum miner — Zimplats. The land to be acquired represents about 50% of the mining claims owned by Zimplats.

Chitando said the chamber was in the process of drafting a comprehensive document to be submitted to the ministry by early next week.

He said the comprehensive document will seek clarity on issues such as mining charges, beneficiation, land administration and definition of excess land.

On the sector’s compliance with the indigenisation laws, Chitando said companies were at various stages of discussions with the ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment.

Chitando, who is also the managing director of Mimosa Platinum, said discussions were underway between his company and the ministry on how the producer would be indigenisation-compliant.

“As Mimosa we received the term-sheet as of last year in December and since then there are discussions on the way forward. As expected, the term sheet was to lay the basis of the final agreement which is a matter of discussion, but we are talking,” said Chitando.

Last year Mimosa — a joint venture between Implats and Acquarius – and indigenous partners signed agreements that would allow indigenous partners to acquire 51% of the platinum producer in a transaction valued at $550 million.

Meanwhile, CMZ will next week hold an annual general meeting as focus shifts to the capital-intensive sector ahead of the forthcoming general elections. Already, pressure is piling on companies to fund polls after Finance minister Tendai Biti hinted on introducing a new tax to fund the polls.

The mining sector, which, according to latest government figures, accounts for 68% of total mineral exports, is expected by government to soon engage in value addition amid concerns that Treasury could be losing millions of dollars each year.