HARARE – Zimbabwe has gazetted new mining fees that take into account the inflation rate since the last review of the fees.
The Mining (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 are contained in Statutory Instrument 95 of 2020 and was published by Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando.
Application for an Exclusive Prospecting Order and that for a mining lease have now been pegged at $10 000, with both fees non-refundable.
A special mining lease will now cost $25 000, while a special prospecting licence and ordinary prospecting licence will cost $3 750 and $1 000 respectively.
To register as a prospector, one has to fork out $20 000, with the licence valid for five years, while registration for a toll elution plant and a special grant will cost $5 000.
Registration to mine base mineral (for example, lead, copper, nickel) and to deal in precious stones will cost $2 000 and $100 000 respectively.
The registration to deal in precious stones will be valid for five years. Registering a mining and special mining lease will cost $25 000 and $50 000 respectively.
Application for registration of a precious metal block and its registration licence now costs $1 000 respectively.
Annual fees for a block of claims, special grants and mining leases of precious stones are now pegged at $1 125 per five hectares.
Second and subsequent inspection for block of claims (base minerals, precious metals) and mining lease will now cost $1 000 per five hectares. The annual fees for mining special grant will cost $50 per hectare per year.
The renewal fee for a mining special grant has been pegged at $5 000, while the application for extension for a mining special grant is now at $50 000.
To renew a certificate of registration as an approved prospector, one has to fork out $2 500.
A permit to transport ore now costs $100 and the permit would be valid for three months.
Export permit fees for platinum group of metals, white matte and base metal concentrates have been set at $62 500 for the former and $50 000 each for the remaining two.
The export permit for base metal concentrates were set at $50 000, $500 per three months for ferro alloy, while for refined base metals it will cost $18 750.
A shipment of cut and polished diamonds was set at $250, while for rough or uncut diamonds the cost will be $50 000.
A gold jewellery permit is now at $2 500.
The permits for explosive and storage licence was set at $500 per year. A permit to acquire and possess explosives will cost $2 500 per year, while to obtain an import and export licence per would cost $5 000 per consignment.
A licence to manufacture explosive at factory will cost $50 000 for five years, while for that to manufacture the explosives at mine will cost $5 000 per year.
The Zimbabwe Miners Federation president, Ms Henrietta Rushwaya, welcomed the new gazetted fees, saying they were in line with the obtaining situation in the economy.
“We believe the fees are fair taking into account the prevailing economic situation in the country,” she said. “We also think they will go a long way in clearing the backlog that we were experiencing at the provincial and district services as they were waiting for the fees to be gazetted.”