The Mozambican government, through the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME), said on Tuesday, 15 August, that it is urgent to approve a specific regulation for small-scale artisanal mining, with a view to ending accidents that cause victims and increasing informalisation of the activity.
The information was provided by the national director of Geology and Mining, who was speaking during the 8th coordinating council of MIREME, which has been taking place since yesterday in the city of Lichinga, Niassa province, in the north of the country.
“We have limited time [to approve the regulation], given the urgency of the matter. Without this regulation, the control of small-scale artisanal mining has been done through palliative measures, which are insufficient to discipline the sector,” said Cândido Rangeiro.
The source added that in addition to stopping the disasters that occur in small-scale artisanal mining, “a specific regulation of the sector is necessary to combat the illegal sale of minerals and the illegal immigration of foreigners who enter the country to extract natural resources improperly”.
In this sense, Cândido Rangeiro said that “a working group will be set up to prepare a proposal for a specific regulation of the sector”.
Citing data from the mining census, released in 2021, the official pointed out that 3% of the Mozambican population – estimated at around 30 million people – lives on artisanal mining, most of them carrying out the activity illegally.
The official also said that the country loses 93 million meticais annually as a result of the illegal sale of minerals.
Every year, dozens of people die in the illegal extraction of minerals in Mozambique, due to the precarious safety conditions in which they carry out the activity.
