A situational report from the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) says the impact of COVID-19 has been felt in the Artisinal Small Scale Miners (ASM) sector through the uneven, unstable and fluctuating low prices being offered by gold buyers.
This takes place as the government left some of the miners on the special services exemption list.
“As on the 6th of April 2020, miners who sold gold to FPR (Fidelity Printers and Refineries) in Harare got US$47 per gram, although the FPR price would be subjected to the 55% in US$ and 45% in RTGS policy. This means effectively FPR will be buying at more or less than US$24 per gram,” the report says.
“On the other hand, black market buyers were buying at US$39 per gram in Harare, and US$36 per gram in Chinhoyi. All these, prices are lower than US$50 which was being offered before COVID-19 disrupted the supply chain.”
The ZELA report also says many ASM miners end up selling gold on the black market which fetches a higher price than FPR due to price distorts.
“The opening hours of FPR buying offices have been limited to between 9am and 12pm in Bindura and other areas, while in Harare it opens from 9am-3pm,” the report says.
“Some buyers indicated that due to bank closures, it is now difficult to access cash to buy gold.”
“The above shows the disruptions and distortions caused by COVID-19 in the ASM sector and promotes arbitrage, corruption and illicit financial flows in the gold sector.”
ZELA says the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has not fully approved the operations of gold miners during lockdown.
“As at 4 April 2020, records of successful ASM exemption applications viewed by ZELA from different provinces showed that a total of 131 ASM gold miners had been granted partial exemption by ZMF and were already cautiously mining while waiting for final approval from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.”
