via Shurugwi miners sell gold to illegal dealers – NewsDay Zimbabwe April 22, 2015
SMALL-SCALE gold miners in Shurugwi have admitted selling their gold to illegal dealers, mostly foreigners, who offered better prices as compared to the government-owned Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
by OWN CORRESPONDENT
Speaking to NewsDay in separate interviews recently, Shurugwi Small-Scale Miners’ Association chairperson Isaac Chivendera said most informal miners in the gold-rich Midlands district preferred selling their produce in South Africa where prices were more attractive.
“The country has arguably enough gold to positively turn around the economy, but we are losing that gold in large quantities every day to the few whites in South Africa and other surrounding countries simply because they offer more money than our own gold dealer, Fidelity,” Chivendera said.
Chivendera also called on mining authorities to relax some of the laws governing the sector to enable small-scale producers to realise better returns.
“Opportunities are there in the industry, a lot of gold can be realised from the small-scale miners only, but what we really need to do is just to change the policies and make the environment more conducive.
“We, however, appreciate the government efforts to formalise all the SMEs and empower the black majority,” he said.
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