Small-scale gold miners in Zimbabwe are incurring an estimated $5-million in lost production each month, owing to disputes over the ownership of mining claims.

According to the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act, no mining may take place on a disputed mining claim until the issue of ownership has been resolved.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) VP Ishmael Kaguru says each of the country’s seven mining districts is losing an average of 20 kg of gold each month as a result of the ownership disputes.

Kaguru says most of the disputes arise when officials from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development “overpeg” claims, causing overlaps, or make dual allocations, where more than one person or company get certification to mine the same claim.

“We estimate that we are losing about 20 kg of gold, valued at $760 000, in each of Zimbabwe’s seven gold mining districts. “That translates into well over $5-million in lost earnings each month.”

He adds that problems also arise when new applicants are wrongly allocated claims that are due to be forfeited from the previous owners.

Kaguru says that, instead of using uncertified in-house-trained personnel to do the pegging of gold claims, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development should consider employing people with diplomas or degrees in mine geology or surveying.

The small-scale miners are also unhappy that, despite the incorporation of ZMF representatives onto the new Mines Affairs Board, it still takes between six months and one year to resolve mine ownership disputes.

Among other responsibilities, the Mines Affairs Board is mandated to resolve mining-related disputes. However, the board has no power over disputes that are taken to the courts, where resolution may take even longer, owing to the slow pace of judicial processes.

Experts have identified self-contradictions within Zimbabwe’s Mines and Minerals Act as being some of the factors that complicate the resolution of mine ownership disputes. While the Act grants “rightful owner” status to the party that had already started mining operations when the dispute arose, it leaves the fate of mining activities to either consensus among the parties to the dispute or a directive from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

The Mines and Minerals Act also empowers the police to enforce the closure of a mine in the event of an ownership dispute being reported to them.