Coming soon: First national census of artisanal miners in Mozambique | Notícias

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Coming soon: First national census of artisanal miners in Mozambique | Notícias

2:22 CAT | 16 Mar 2021

File photo: Noticias

The government has decided to carry out, this year, a ‘1st National Census of Artisanal Miners’, as an essential tool for the better management of this subsector in Mozambique.

According to Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Max Tonela, the sector has been reflecting on the problem of artisanal mining for more than two years. The challenge is to better understand the sub-sector in order to design policies and actions which contribute to its formalisation, improving its contribution to the economy, including at local level.

“Therefore, we are investing on a census of artisanal actors, the first to be carried out in the country, as an essential tool for better management of the sub-sector,” Minister Tonela emphasised at the opening of a preparatory national meeting in Maputo on Monday.

The country has many mining resources, which, Tonela says, should be seen as assets with immense potential to boost development.

Also read: Mozambique: Life and death digging for gold in Namaíta, Nampula – Ikweli

Artisanal mining, however, especially of gems and gold, uses non-formal channels for commercialisation, and stimulates illegal immigration and forms of exploitation that cause environmental damage and tax evasion, with the state losing revenue.

“It is our understanding that exploitation must be carried out in a sustainable and transparent way, so that the resulting benefits contribute to the improvement of the standard of living of all Mozambicans, through the creation of more job opportunities, more income for the stakeholders and more taxes and other benefits for the state,” the minister said.

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Max Tonela also acknowledge there were gaps in the statistical information on the real contribution of this type of mining to the country’s development. The census will provide qualitative and quantitative data about the people involved in artisanal mining, its socioeconomic impact on communities and the country’s economy, for better formulation of policies and strategies for the sector’s formalisation.

Delegates from the National Statistics Institute (INE) and directors of related services, among others, who will be responsible for conducting the census, participated in the preparatory coordination meeting in Maputo.

Source: Notícias