Luanda — The Secretary of State for Mineral Resources, Jánio Correa Victor, revealed Thursday that there are one million twenty-six thousand and forty-six illegal miners in Angola, most of them foreigners, and 296 dredgers of large carrying unlawful operations.

Jánio Correa Victor was speaking at the National Assembly, within the framework of the approval, in general, of the Draft Law to Combat Illegal Mining Activity, which provides for criminal penalties ranging from three months to eight years in prison.

The Proposed Law also provides for fines worth four million dollars, corresponding to half the amount provided for in paragraph 2 of article 111 of the Mining Code.

According to the secretary, the Executive's legislative initiative aims to adapt and criminally reinforce the fight against the illegal exercise of mining activities, classify crimes and the purposes of penalties, as well as establish criminal frameworks that allow for the effective protection of the legal assets in question, among others.

He clarified that the legal types of mining crimes currently in force do not satisfactorily cover all phenomena that constitute illegal mining activity, thus justifying the creation of a specific legal regime.

According to the background report, from 2018 to 2023, a total of 1,292 criminal cases related to illegal mining activity were recorded and charged with incalculable damage to the country's economy.

Illegal mining activity generates harmful impacts on the environment, human life, public health, community subsistence, economy and development.

This is an activity carried out using equipment, devices and chemicals that are dangerous and harmful to the environment, the health of the people who handle them and the community in general and which is often associated with the maintenance of violent armed conflicts, organized crime, terrorism, child and slave labor, drug and weapons trafficking, thus putting the security of the State at risk. DC/SC/ADR/DOJ