The Economy and Environment Committee of the Mozambique Parliament announced in late January that it was to visit the country’s most north-easterly province, Cabo Delgado, to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of the province’s mining operations on the adjacent local communities.

Committee spokesperson Armando Artur stated that they would particularly visit the administrative post of Namanhumbir, in the Montepuez district. Montepuez hosts one of the biggest ruby deposits in the world and the committee intended to investigate the transparency of the mining sector there.

To be specific, the committee wanted to focus on the 2.75% of tax revenues collected by the State, which were required by law to be used for the development of the communities located in the mining districts. The Parliamentarians sought to establish that these funds actually reached Namanhumbir. “Equally, we intend to know what the level of participation and involvement of the communities is in the definition of the priorities and in the management of the 2.75%,” he told the Maputo daily O País.

The main mining companies active in the Montepuez district are the Gemfields Group and Fura Gems. Gemfields operations are conducted by its subsidiary, Montepuez Ruby Mining, in which it has a 75% stake (the other 25% belonging to Mozambique company Mwiriti Limitada). As of the end of last year, Gemfields had held 11 auctions of rubies mined by Montepuez, bringing in total revenues of $462.6-million.

Fura holds 80% of four ruby licences in the district (in each case, the remaining 20% is held by local partners), covering an area of 394.24 km2. It is also acquiring majority ownership of a number of entities that own nine other such licences in the Montepuez and Chiure districts, covering 711 km2.

Separately, and earlier last month, the State-owned Empresa Moçambicana de Exploração Mineira (EMEM – Mozambican Mining Exploration [or Exploitation] Company) announced that it was going to set up a commercial office in Manica province to buy gold produced in the province by artisanal miners. Manica is the country’s centre-west province, bordering Zimbabwe. This was announced by the country’s Mineral Resources and Energy Vice Minister, Augusto Fernando.

“The objective is to guarantee that all the resources exploited in our national territory benefit the country,” he explained. “The gold-buying office (literally, warehouse, or depot) in Nampula would have allowed EMEM to collect 9 000 kg of gold last year.” (Mozambique’s total gold production was estimated at 250 000 kg in 2015.)

The establishment of the new office is the result of the good experience with a similar office set up by EMEM in Nampula province, in the north-east of the country (Nampula is directly south of Cabo Delgado) last year. EMEM is a recently established company, set up as part of government’s efforts to counter illegal gold mining and selling. Another element in government’s campaign to combat the illegal sale and smuggling of gold in the country has been to increase the powers and autonomy of the inspection services.