The government of Zimbabwe has threatened to deny mining title owners who owe inspection fees and other related mining rights dues export permits; in a move to recover huge sums money owed to the government.
In a statement signed by the Mines and Mining Development Permanent Secretary Mr Onismor Mazai-Moyo, the ministry said it is owed huge sums of money in terms of inspection fees and other service charges. “In terms of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act Chapter 21:05, it is the obligation of every mining title holder to timeously inspect and renew their mining rights. Therefore, with effect from 1st May 2020 the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development will no longer be providing support services like issuance of export permits and all movement permits amongst other key services to clients that are not in good standing with the Ministry,” the statement read.
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Mining rights
According to the statement, the Mines and Minerals Act provides for forfeiture of mining titles due to failure to obtain an annual Inspection Certificate. The ministry is therefore appealing to its valued clients to inspect and renew their mining rights.
Mining is one of the key pillars with which Government seeks to kick-start the economy. In that case, the Ministry is pursuing a 2023 milestone by which it seeks to grow sector exports from US $2.7bn in 2017 to US $12bn.