The seven tonnes of gold delivered by BBJ are a marked
increased from the 800kg supplied by the company last year.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, BBJ chief executive
Mr Scott Sakupwanya commended President Mnangagwa for introducing policies that
have empowered gold buyers to gain the trust of small-scale miners.
Mr Sakupwanya, who is also the Gold Buyers Association of
Zimbabwe president, said:
“We thank President Mnangagwa and the Second Republic for
the vision that they have to increase gold production.
“The Government has availed incentives that have made us
attractive to gold miners who now prefer to sell the gold to us, instead of
selling to smugglers.
“The seven tonnes delivered by BBJ mean that small scale
miners pocketed over US$500 million.
“That’s is half a billion dollars in the pockets of
small-scale miners, underlining how artisanal miners are being empowered under
the Second Republic’s policies.
“The increase in our numbers is clear evidence that more
gold is being brought to Fidelity, which means that there is less smuggling
now.”
Mr Sakupwanya said with the support that they are receiving
from Government, BBJ plans to supply 50 tonnes of gold to FPR this year.
“Last year (2020) we only had 800kg of gold but this year
(2021) we have 7,8 tonnes. If we continue working on this path, next year
(2022) we will be expecting two tonnes every month.
“Our goal is to reach 50 tonnes of gold in line with the
plan by the Minister of Mines (and Mining Development) for gold production to
reach 100 tonnes.”
A gold buyer, Mr Tawanda Chidzidzi, commended Government
for its policies that have reduced smuggling of gold.
“The current policies introduced by the Government have
enabled us to work well with small-scale miners.
“It is becoming less attractive for artisanal miners to
sell the gold to smugglers because we have the capital to buy it and forward it
to Fidelity,” he said.
Another gold buyer, Mr Pritchard Sibanda, said there was a
need to increase centres where they access gold.
“By increasing the centres, we will have access to more
artisanal miners and we will able to buy more gold to supply to Fidelity. We
are confident that we can contribute to the 100 tonne target because there is a
lot of gold in the country, but much of it is being smuggled.”
Under the Ministry of Mines and Mining’s Development vision
to achieve a US$12 billion annual mining economy, gold is expected to
contribute US$4 billion. The US$12 billion mining economy is one of the pillars
to support Vision 2030, which envisions an upper middle-income economy by that
year. Sunday Mail
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