Some gemstone miners on the Copperbelt province have lost huge sums of money due to the alleged wrong geological survey data they got over the mining areas which government allocated to them.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Ndola yesterday, Emerald and Semi-precious stones Miners Association of Zambia (ESMAS) general secretary, Victor Kalesha said the miners had invested heavily in mining areas that had little quantities of gemstones.
This was contrary to the data they were given which suggested that the areas had huge deposits of gemstones lying near the ground surface.
Mr. Kalesha explained that the miners did not realize any significant profits because the availability of the stones in those areas did not tally with the geological survey data they were given concerning the areas.
He said that currently, only a few of the local gemstone miners were mining, noting that most of them have given up the business due to non availability of the precious stones in their mining areas.
He added that other miners do not have the necessary mining equipment to exhume the gemstones which lie deep in the ground.
Mr. Kalesha noted that on the Copperbelt province, there were 500 gemstone mining license holders but only two miners were actively operational. The two operational mines are owned by foreigners.
The ESMAZ general secretary named the two operating companies as Grizzly and Kagem Mining Companies.
He has since appealed to government to conduct another geological survey on these mining areas so that local gemstone miners can be productive and contribute to the economic growth of the country.
Mr. Kalesha also said the recently opened Gemstone Exchange Centre in Ndola has not helped the gemstone miners because they have no stones to supply to the centre.
He attributed the failure by the miners to supply stones to the wrong geological survey data they were given regarding their mining areas at the time they acquired them.
ZANIS
CHIMBWE NO PULANI
Pa Zed paliba drama baaaaaad!
Government …can you get your Exploration team to swing into action before this dents your image. The big man has come out in a very professional way. You’ll need to assist them with the survey as you sold them what is NOT there.
Mulebako serious. Could it have been so just because it’s Zambians holding the licenses?
seek expert knowledge before you venture into such bussiness. muletwipusha
Contrasts
(1) Some gemstones miners in the Copperbelt province have lost huge sums of money due to the alleged wrong geological survey data (2) He added that other miners do not have the necessary mining equipment to exhume the gemstones, which lies deep in the ground (3) Mr. Kalesha noted that in the Copperbelt province, there were 500 gemstone mining license holders but only two miners were actively operational. The two operational mines are owned by foreigners. Now my question is that is it that there are no gemstones or Mr Kalesha’s group doesn’t just have equipment? How are the two foreign companies making it? Idiocy is the answer. Why not form 4 companies out of the 500 and pool up resources to buy appropriate equipment? Idiocy, greed, selfishness plus plus.
This has implications for other areas of the country which are supposed to have mining potential. We may think we have more minerals than we actually have. We will have to be extra careful with our so-called oil deposits in the NW. Better to focus on agriculture, tourism and manufacturing to grow the economy.
shame on the geologists!! They misled the miners. Sorry guys try and invest in something else now.
What a prospecting miner is supposed to do is first get a GEOLICAL plan that has got BORE HOLES plotted on it. This must be accompanied by sections profiled in East to West and North to South details. These BOREHOLES must show the Grades and Quantities of the mineral that you want to mine and at what depth this mineral becomes profitable. You should not trust in the word of month and you must invest heavily in Geological and Mineralogy research.
yaba
The importance of seeking professional advice from various sources before you embark on a business deal. The irony in being the foreign companies are the only operational ones just proves theres something wrong with the zambian geological survey’s
eya
fellas in this day and age.is not possible to use SATELITE technology to give an idea of what is underground?
my local brethren lack forsight hence the reluctance to invest in their projects.which spells doom as at one point it’s the resources you put in that will do the talking.
we just need nothing but the truth
poor zambians….
iyo elo lwanya!!! Yangu…..??
I think its just a question of not having the proper tools to get the minerals out! How is it that the foreign miners are able to get the stones? These locals can just form a sindicate and put resorces together instead of always crying and asking for other mining areas.
Yaba….buy good equipment to dig dipper like the Post does.
Zambians are too trusting. Any foreigner can dupe them.
Number 7 my man, do not say shame on the geologists because i’m a geologist myself and i will tell you that these guys do not follow our advise and are usually not ready to pay for the geological site investigations. They like short cuts and normally consult non geologists unlike the foreigners who in most cases follow the procedures and are ready to pay all the necessary costs. What must be realized is that mining is not a kantemba kind of business. People need to be financially sound and ready to seek and pay for scientific information which by the way is not cheap. Small scale miners are usually advised to partner with some genuine foreigners who apparently and in most cases have the financial capacity to venture into that business. So noti ifyakweba ati shame on the geologists boyi.
CHOFWE ARE U LOOKING FOR JOB? I HAVENT SHIIITED IN DAYS AND I NEED YOU TO CHECK OUT WHATS BURIED DIP INSIDE ME..
Geologists – bakapenda mabwe
geologists! have certificates from Kasama trade school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think this is a matter of lack of equipment. Invest in proper equipment before investing in mining. You are the some people who expect your employees to dig the stones with ama piki. There are no short cuts in mining.
My opinion on this is that one needs alot of money, gemfields plc which runs kagem mines for example invested USD$20 million to be at the level of finding gemstones. I know for a fact that all the zambian licenses put together can not raise USD$20m. I also know that gemfields has bought most of the good mining areas. They now control about 60% of the entire mining area. The Zambian government should take back some of those mines and offer them to Zambians because its like Zambians have been left with the ‘poor mining areas while kagem has all the good areas or Gemfields must be forced to open up its share holding to Zambians so that Zambians and the government can benefit from what comes out of the mining areas. CEE should play a role in this area of business. re-nationalisation maybe?
In my opinion, the government should not have privatised kagem in the first place. They government should have been running the good mines and empowering the Zambians by selling them the stones which they can then add value by cutting and polishing and then selling the stones as finished products. At the rate things are going, all those Zambians holding licenses will end up selling them to gemfields and before we know it, the entire mining area will be controlled by one british company, gemfields plc. That is Zambian wealth that should remain in the country not this current situation were all the millions are going to India and British. This is immoral and just outrightly wrong! We need a change of government so that the mines can be re-nationalised. That is the way forward in my opinion.
#25 REAL ZAMBIAN INVESTOR- I appreciate your sentiments. But I just wish to point out its actually GRZ involvement that has actually ruined the mining industry in Zambia. Unip took full controll of the former RCM & ZCCM to form ZCCM in order to utilise the proceeds from copper on Unip operations. All Unip employees such as ba Mama Region etc were paid by GRZ using ZCCM money. There came a time when even officers from OP became a responsibility of ZCCM. ZCCM was made to sponsor annual sporting events where all security wings and parastatals participated at the expense of the mines. At independence Zambia was slightly better off that Chile also a copper producing country. While Zambia nationalised the Mines Chile only bought shares in their mines. The money realised was not misused like we
did in Zambia. Instead it saved for days when copper prices would go down. Part of this money was invested in agriculture which today is part of the mainstay of Chilean economy with exports in Billion Dollars. In Zambia agriculture has failed because its used as political tool by ruling parties. Feterlise has become a weapon resulting in it being distributed to the ruling parties boot lickers who may not even be farmers, but just end up smuggling the commodity for higher profits. Even now when the gvt is receiving subtantial amounts from the mines there is nothing to show for it in terms of nation development. All we see and hear is rhetoric on an invisible advancement. Even in private hands mines can effectively contribute to our country. Only if theres TRANSPANCY and PATRIOTISM