The Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development has warned that it will terminate the licenses of processing plants involved in illegal mining activities. Permanent Secretary Dr. Hapenga Kabeta announced that recent investigations revealed both legal and illegal processing plants are facilitating unlawful mining operations.
Dr. Kabeta stated that the government has already undertaken a significant crackdown, closing several unauthorized processing plants lacking environmental clearances and issuing notices to others, threatening to shut them down if they fail to comply.
In addition to these actions, the government plans to introduce stricter penalties for continued non-compliance.
Edward Lange, Senior Research and Advocacy Officer at Southern African Resource Watch, has called for the government to offer an amnesty to illegal miners, allowing them to sell their minerals to the state. Lange suggests this could help formalize operations and address the rising fatalities and illicit financial issues associated with unregulated mining, including incidents linked to unauthorized processing plants, some operated by Chinese nationals in Chingola.
