Conrad Mwanawashe Business Reporter
GOLD production by small-scale miners has tripled to about 600kg a month from 200kg a month following the deployment of Fidelity Printers and Refiners security officers at selected custom milling centres countrywide.
The initiative, introduced by the sole gold buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners, has saved the country from losing about five tonnes of gold through leakages since September last year.
Fidelity Printers and Refiners acting chief executive officer Mr Fradreck Kunaka said in an interview that the deployment of security officers at elution plants is but one of the measures the gold buyer is introducing to curb smuggling of the precious stone.
“We work well with the various State institutions that deal with minerals like the Minerals and Border Control Unit, which as we speak, have invited us to participate in control of processes at selected elution plants,” said Mr Kunaka.
“The majority of the gold that we produce, especially by the small-scale sectors, comes from the elution plants,” he said.
Fidelity Printers is currently working with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to establish a facility for financing for gold buying licence holders to capacitate them to mop up all the gold in the country, especially from artisanal and small-scale miners.
Fidelity, which assumed licensing of gold buyers at the beginning of this year, has so far licensed about 100 individual agents and about 400 custom millers to buy gold.
“It is not feasible for us to buy smaller quantities of gold so we have given licences to custom millers and other individual gold buying agents in areas where we do not have custom millers,” said Mr Kunaka.
While at the moment there has been no funding availed to the licence holders there are modalities being worked on to ensure that they are capitalised to be able to mop up that gold so that it goes through the formal market.
The other plus, Mr Kunaka said, is that once the gold buying agents have been financed by Fidelity it would be easier to influence pricing going forward.
Mr Kunaka said the focus currently is on steadying the ship following a turbulent first half which saw senior managers arrested for allegedly defrauding the country’s sole gold buyer of close to $800 000 through underhand dealings.
“We are stabilising the ship and working on ensuring that miners get better service going forward. We are pleased that despite the few challenges we have not seen a slump in business, maintained our clientele and in fact we have seen confidence building in terms of the printing tenders we are receiving,” said Mr Kunaka.
On measures to curb gold smuggling, Mr Kunaka said Fidelity is advocating for custodial sentences for illegal possession of gold.
“We have written to Government through the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development advocating deterrent measures for gold smugglers. If you look at the sentences imposed on the theft of livestock, even if it’s chicken, they are jailed for nine years without the option of a fine. But if someone is found illegally possessing gold they are given the option of a fine. So these are some of the efforts that we are undertaking to curb illegal gold activities,” he said.
“We also interface with our minister, for instance, it was the input from Fidelity for Government to suspend the 1,5 percent presumptive tax on gold miners. Currently, miners are now being charged only 3 percent royalty fees.”