Published by the government of Zimbabwe
5 November 2009
Harare — ZIMBABWE Miners Federation president Trynos Nkomo has said small-scale miners are about to realise their true potential once the federation seals a partnership deal with a Chinese firm that specialises in mining equipment.
Speaking in an interview following a visit to China by a delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Murisi Zwizwai, Mr Nkomo said his organisation had engaged a big Chinese firm in a deal that could improve production in the local gold mining sphere.
"Our trip to China saw us meeting and engaging in talks with some major mining stakeholders at the China Mining Expo. We are on the brink of securing lucrative deals for our small-scale gold miners.
"As small-scale gold miners we have always brought forward our plight, which is that of shortage of appropriate mining equipment that is essential if we are ever to reach our full potential.
"The Chinese firm we are about to engage specialises in modern high-tech equipment and we are convinced that with such a partner, small-scale miners will be able to boost their production levels," said Mr Nkomo.
He added that the federation together with its potential partner had put in place a joint commission to facilitate the partnership.
"The name of the firm cannot be revealed now as this might jeopardise our negotiations, but we have set up a joint commission with the Chinese with the sole purpose of facilitating the partnership's terms and goals. Hopefully everything will go according to plan," he added.
The partnership with the Chinese will see the small-scale miners getting equipment that can be used to go further down in the ground in search of mineral resources. Small-scale miners have been facing the dilemma of poor working equipment and most of them have been using traditional equipment that only allowed them to tap the resources that are only near the surface of the earth leaving most of the minerals untapped.
Mr Nkomo said that the 'Look East policy' should have been diversified to all sectors of the economy as the mining sector could have started reaping the benefits of the country's mineral reserves a long time ago.
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