Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Association of Mine Managers of Zimbabwe (AMMZ) president Abel Makura says the association is engaging with authorities and regulatory bodies to streamline processes in the mining sector.
The mining sector is the largest contributor to Zimbabwe’s revenue streams and is the highest foreign currency earner through exports.
In 2024, the mining industry contributed approximately 12% to the country’s gross domestic product and nearly 70% of export earnings, despite facing several challenges around forex retention, power cuts, and liquidity shortages.
Speaking during the ongoing AMMZ Annual Conference and General Meeting being held under the theme ‘Mining for the Future: Innovation, Sustainability, Resilience,’ Makura said the association was engaging with authorities to address areas affecting the sector.
“In terms of engagement, we have constructed dialogue with authorities and regulatory bodies to streamline our processes and also engage with academia,” he said.
“So, as the year comes to an end and new leadership is going to come through, what lies ahead for us is what we also try to align things with that we have been running for the year.”
He added that due to dangers associated with mining activities, the association was advocating for a safe working environment through the Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) initiatives.
“All operations that we have, we advocate zero harm for compliance with the best mining practices that will result in no one being harmed. Any person who would come to the workplace should be able to go back to their respective homes unharmed,” Makura said.
“We do that through embedding of cleanings from any high-potential incident that would ever occur around Zimbabwe, and we embrace technology that eliminates the exposure of people to harm.”
He underscored the importance of skills inclusion in the sector, saying knowledge sharing is important and that investing in youth is investing in the future.
He said the association was working with the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe for the latter to become a constituent board for mining professionals.
“And then the other project that we are working on, with the assistance of the Chamber of Mines, is the registration of the Chamber of Mines itself as a constituent board for mining professionals,” Makura said.
As the world is going digital, and smart mining has become the new normal, he said the association was also working on innovative ways to use some of these digital technologies.
“Based on the goals that we are doing, we are looking at innovation, sustainability, resilience, and engagement. So, from the innovation part, we instilled digital tools in various aspects of mining, which is the field of engineering and equipment management,” Makura said.
“And we strengthened our main-planning processes in the gold technical forums that enabled participation of the members, where they would discuss various issues affecting the Zimbabwe mining industry.”
Additionally, the association is advocating for responsible mining and this has resulted in positive outcomes as some operations have taken the initiative to be audited by Environmental Management Agency (EMA)
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