WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-05-19 Time: 04:00:03 Posted By: Jan
Harare – THE Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation (ZMF), a grouping of small to medium scale miners, will hold a mining conference at which it seeks to raise issues affecting its members with key government ministers.
ZMF chief executive officer, Wellington Takavarasha, said small and medium scale miners were under threat from a host of problems that hamstrung their potential to contribute to the well being of the country’s economy.
“We’ve invited several ministers to come and address miners on issues and concerns affecting their operations,” said Takavarasha, indicating that the conference would seek to find a “multidimensional approach” to the integration of small and medium scale miners into the formal economy.
Among people expected to speak at the conference is the Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu, Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Environment Minister Francis Nhema and the co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa.
Takavarasha said ZMF’s members had been unnecessarily targeted by members of the police force, at times disrupting mining activities.
It was therefore important for the association to find ways of creating a cordial relationship with law enforcement agents and push for the harmonisation of the Gold Trade Act and the monetary policy statement unveiled by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono in February.
In a bid to revive the struggling sector, Gono abolished the traditional arrangement that made the central bank the sole buyer of gold in the country through its subsidiary, Fidelity Printers and Refineries.
Gold miners can now market their gold offshore, retaining 92,5 percent of their sales in foreign currency and disposing the balance to the central bank.
The new marketing regime allows gold miners to capitalise on rising international prices.
Gold prices have remained bullish since November last year, experiencing their strongest rally ever since 1999 despite a world recession.
However, the Gold Trade Act has retained Fidelity’s monopoly in the purchase of gold in the country, although several big mining houses have started exporting bullion bars offshore without the intervention of the company.
Among issues Takavarasha hopes the conference will tackle is the high entry level requirements for small to medium scale miners, including the requirement for environmental impact assessments, which he said were costly, as well as inhibitive levies on miners by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.
The small scale mining sector has been considered a key pillar to economic growth and was a key contributor to gold output until a blitz that closed down most of the operations, resulting in a sharp fall in output.
At its peak, Zimbabwe produced more than 2 400 kg of gold monthly but had come down to lows of as little as 125kg per month.
The Chamber of Mines said last week that gold output had further declined by nearly 80 percent during the first four months of this year.
Original date published: 14 May 2009
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905181116.html?viewall=1