Zimbabwe bars foreign operators from small-scale gold mining

Zimbabwe banned foreign companies and individuals from small-scale gold mining in a move aimed at protecting local jobs and benefiting the domestic economy.

All foreign investors and entities participating in small-scale mining must either increase production capacity and investment or halt their operations by January, Mines Minister Polite Kambamura said in Harare on Friday.

“The small-scale gold-mining sector in Zimbabwe is reserved exclusively for Zimbabwean citizens,” he said. It’s for producers whose monthly output is no more than 20 kilograms and capital investment totals less than $15 million.

Small-scale miners produce 65% of the country’s gold. In the first four months of this year, Zimbabwean output totaled about 12,637 kg, up 1.3% from a year earlier.

(By Godfrey Marawanyika)