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The Federation for Small Scale miners (FSSMAZ) has outlined some proposals to be considered in the 2024 national budget, such as decentralisation of licensing process for artisanal miners.
Other proposals include; setting up a gemstone capital fund, removing tax on machinery and equipment, and waiving mineral royalty among others.
FSSMAZ president, Joseph Mwansa, in an interview with Journalists on Monday stated that decentralisation of licensing process was critical in supporting artisanal miners.
Mwansa expressed optimism that decentralisation of the mining licence processing would be considered, especially with the operationalisation of the Mineral Commission next year.
He emphasised that decentralising the process would assist in formalisation of the artisanal subsector.
Read more: ZRA targets Artisanal, Small-Scale Miners for voluntary tax compliance
“Mechanisation of artisanal miners through plant hire or leasing of equipment schemes will enable them enhance their production so that the subsector can contribute more to the economic development of the rural areas by creation of more employment and revenue through mine taxes,” Mr Mwansa said.
He also talked about the need to set up a gemstone capital fund with seed money of about US$55 million.
According to Mwansa, this would assist in boosting the small-scale Miners in terms of working capital and market access.
“Other sectors like agriculture, tourism, and commerce are funded, but there are no funds allocated to develop small-scale mining every year in the budget,” he pointed out.
Mwansa also proposed that government must remove tax on all machinery imported for the purpose of small-scale mining.
He stated that this included, but was not limited to Lapidary equipment, earth movement machines, duty-free double cabs, tumbling machines, front end loaders, and tractors.
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