The Zambian government is ramping up efforts to formalise its artisanal and small-scale gold-mining sector.
These include a new gold-testing laboratory in Rufunsa in the Lusaka province, which will be used to determine gold content in ore to be purchased directly from the informal gold-mining industry.
Reuters reports that the largely state-owned mining investments and operations company Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) has already started buying gold from artisanal and small-scale miners.
According to the Financial Insights of Zambia, the establishment of the laboratory will help to curb gold smuggling and provide an open market with competitive prices for the largely unregulated sector.
Last year, ZCCM-IH announced plans to buy and collect more than 40 000 kg of gold in 2020 from primary and secondary sources – including from artisanal and small-scale miners – via gold-buying centres in strategic planning areas, in a bid to raise revenue from its mineral resources.
