ARTISANAL mining in Zimbabwe has emerged as a vital lifeline for thousands of rural households, providing income and employment in areas where formal job opportunities are scarce.
In gold-producing regions, artisanal miners account for a significant portion of output, yet much of this activity remains informal and poorly regulated.
The sector’s informality has brought severe challenges: environmental degradation, unsafe working conditions, loss of government revenue and increasing dominance by foreign investors who exploit weak local oversight.
Formalising artisanal mining has become a pressing policy priority, not merely to protect national resources but also to ensure that rural communities benefit directly from their mineral wealth.
Zimbabwe has a legal framework under the Mines and Minerals Act [Chapter 21:05] that governs mining licences and mineral rights.
The 2019 National Action Plan for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining and the draft National ASM Policy signal government commitment to the formalisation of the sector.
However, implementation has been limited. The Mines and Mining Development ministry operates mainly at the provincial level, leaving rural districts without adequate regulatory presence.
This vacuum has allowed informal operations to proliferate and has created opportunities for foreign syndicates, particularly Chinese investors, to dominate certain sites.
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Rural communities often bear the social and environmental costs, while benefits escape local hands.
A practical solution lies in a co-operative governance framework that clarifies roles between national and local authorities.
The Mines ministry retains responsibility for mineral rights, technical oversight and national policy, while rural district councils (RDCs) administer business operation licensing, monitor environmental compliance and manage local development levies.
This arrangement should be formalised through a statutory instrument or memorandum of understanding between the ministry, RDCs and the Environmental Management Agency (Ema), ensuring clear coordination. Each district can establish a district mining coordination committee, bringing together representatives from the ministry, RDC, Ema, the Zimbabwe Republic Police Minerals Unit, and the Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners’ Federation. This committee would oversee licensing, monitor compliance, maintain records and coordinate community benefits, linking local operations to the national mining cadastre.
Formalisation can take two complementary approaches. Individual miners may register independently, applying for mineral permits, environmental clearance, and a business operation licence. This approach preserves autonomy and recognises miners as formal economic actors contributing to local and national revenue. Alternatively, miners may choose to operate collectively as co-operatives or associations that hold a single licence for a group of operators. International experience from countries such as Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya shows that co-operatives can simplify administrative processes, improve environmental and safety compliance, facilitate access to finance and technical support, and enhance bargaining power in markets. Crucially, co-operatives are optional; formalisation policies should accommodate both individual and group arrangements.
A Local Mining Governance Framework underpins formalisation, focusing on three interlinked pillars: formalisation, beneficiation and sustainability. Formalisation is achieved through a streamlined, low-cost licensing system. A one-stop district mining desk, hosted by the Rural District Council, can integrate services from the ministry, Ema and local authorities, allowing miners to obtain licences, environmental approvals and business permits in a single process. Beneficiation ensures that minerals are processed locally, increasing value addition and generating employment. District-level beneficiation hubs, equipped with simple gold recovery systems and technical support, can allow miners, whether individuals or co-operative members, to process minerals safely and transparently, reducing smuggling and enhancing revenues. Sustainability requires enforcing environmental rehabilitation and responsible mining. A Sustainable Mining Fund, jointly managed by Ema and RDCs, can finance land restoration, water protection and alternative livelihood initiatives for affected communities.
Empowering local people is central to sector formalisation. Whether miners operate individually or collectively, they require access to finance, technical support and market opportunities. A revolving mining development fund, capitalised through modest levies on royalties and contributions from formalised artisanal operations, could provide low-interest loans, equipment leasing and training for registered miners. Mining resource centres, established at the district level in partnership with universities, technical colleges, and the private sector, can deliver ongoing training in environmental management, safety, mercury-free processing techniques and business literacy. These centres would also serve as innovation hubs, promoting cleaner, safer and more efficient mining practices.
Regulation of foreign participation is essential to protect local communities. Local content policies should stipulate that artisanal mining operations are majority-owned by Zimbabweans, with foreign involvement permitted only under joint ventures where locals hold at least 51% equity. RDCs and district mining coordination committees should vet foreign participation, enforce compliance with labour and environmental standards, and publicly disclose licences and production statistics to improve transparency and accountability.
This co-operative governance approach ensures that formalisation is both practical and flexible, allowing miners to operate individually or collectively, while embedding accountability and capacity at the local level. It addresses the challenges of informality, environmental degradation, revenue leakage and foreign capture.
By decentralising business licensing and community oversight to RDCs, formalising environmental compliance through Ema, and retaining national oversight through the Mines ministry, Zimbabwe can build a sector that is safe, transparent and inclusive.
The opportunity for Zimbabwe is clear. Artisanal mining need not remain an informal survival strategy. With a co-operative governance framework, formalisation mechanisms, local beneficiation, training, finance and strict environmental enforcement, artisanal mining can become a regulated, productive and community-centred pillar of rural development. Properly managed, it can generate local employment, strengthen fiscal revenue, protect natural resources and ensure Zimbabweans benefit from the mineral wealth beneath their feet. The challenge now is to move from policy rhetoric to practical institutional reform that balances national oversight with local empowerment and sustainable development.
