Govt threatens to revoke idle mining licenses
By Staff Reporter
Mines minister Richard Musukwa has warned that idle licenses that were issued to either small or large-scale miners will be revoked.
And Musukwa said the government would implement a framework to facilitate market linkages to assist small-scale miners and prevent them from being continuously exploited.
Speaking during a four-day workshop on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) in Zambia at Lusaka’s Southern Sun Hotel, Musukwa warned that the government would not wait any longer.
“Idle licenses, licenses that are being held for speculation will be revoked so as to promote serious and credible Zambians, non-Zambians, investors who would like to invest in our country. When we give licenses, we also give obligations, and these obligations must be followed to the letter,” said Musukwa.
“In short, what I would like to state is that idle licenses, licenses that are being held for speculation, whether they are small-scale or large-scale, we will not allow that scenario because we are actually disadvantaging the country into getting the benefit from these resources.
What is sad is that we have issued in excess of over 2, 000 small-scale licenses. On these 2, 000 small-scale licenses, I can assure you that we have less than 20 licenses operating. We cannot develop our country at that score.”
