Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mutri Nukbe said Wednesday that a $10 million revolving facility will be built to support value creation and development by artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM), who make up the bulk of the gold produced in the country. was launched.
Ncube said at a press conference that the $5 million he will use to build six gold service centers, improve access to essential services for artisanal and small-scale gold miners, and the remaining $5 million It said the dollars would be used to provide loans to miners to boost production.
He said the $10 million came from a $961 million allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) the International Monetary Fund gave Zimbabwe in 2021.
Gold is Zimbabwe’s largest mineral export, bringing him $1.7 billion in 2021.
Small-scale gold miners have produced more than half of the country’s gold production in recent years, and the government is trying to support them. Last year, the country’s gold production hit a record 35.38 tonnes, 65.5% of which came from artisans and small-scale miners.
“To support ASGM, it is imperative that his ASGM capacity is sufficient to ensure that the country achieves his 12 billion mining by the end of 2023,” he said.
He said the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation will be the operator of the Gold Service Center rotating facility, while the Ministry of Mines will operate the artisanal gold small-scale mining facility.
“These facilities are revolving funds and the government expects beneficiaries to repay available loans so that other beneficiaries can benefit in the future,” he said. I was.