According to an official, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) will continue to negotiate tributary agreements with large-scale miners to maintain sustainable mining operations.
This would also aid in the formalization of the activities of artisanal and small-scale miners.
A tributary mining agreement is a type of temporary subcontracting or leasing of mining claims to a third party to extract minerals in exchange for rent.
“We are constantly engaging the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, which represents large miners, to give tributary agreements to small-scale miners so that our members can sustainably produce and deliver through the formal channel,” ZMF chief executive officer Wellington Takavarasha said in an interview.
“We are glad that through engagements involving the Government and the Chamber of Mines, we have managed to bring artisanal and small-scale miners into the formal system.
“Mines such as Jumbo, Redwing Mine and Venice Mine have given us tributary agreements on their gold-rich clams and negotiations with Golden Valley Mine are also under way for tributary agreement. This will go a long way in bringing illegal miners into the formal system from the informal system,” Mr Takavarasha added.
Small-scale and artisanal miners contribute about 60 percent of the country’s gold output.