Exploring the Benefits of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Activities in Kenya
Posted on : Wednesday, 29th November 2023
The Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy, and Maritime Affairs is carrying out ground truthing and confirmatory fieldwork on the country's 970 acknowledged mineral deposit occurrences. The goal of the fieldwork is to verify the mineral's presence, purity, and amounts throughout 16 counties. Cabinet Secretary for Maritime Affairs, Blue Economy, and Mining Salim Mvurya stated that in an effort to boost the mining industry and guarantee that it makes up the desired 10% of the nation's GDP by 2030, the government has undertaken various reforms to make the sector viable and economical.
A number of legal regulations pertaining to gemstones, identification and value addition, licences and permits, dealing in minerals, royalty collection and management, and mine support services have also been developed by the State Department for Mining, according to Mvurya. The CS declared that artisanal mining operations would no longer be prosecuted and instructed artisanal miners to establish marketing cooperatives in order for artisan mining committees to take their applications for permits into account. At the same time, he gave orders requiring all mineral carriers to get road transport permits from the regional mining offices. These licences require the regional mining officers to witness the loading of minerals into containers and the sealing of those containers.
In order to validate mineral consignments, the department has also instructed gemstone merchants in Voi to operate out of the Voi Gemstone and Value Addition Centre and to have mining officers present at all points of entry and exit. All regions will open mineral marketplaces to promote trade, and all mineral traders must operate out of the designated markets. While urging them to follow rules as the ministry works to improve service delivery, the CS thanked all investors and industry participants for their patience during the time the department was implementing reforms. In order to debate ways to strengthen the sector's reforms, the State Department of Mining intends to host a stakeholder engagement in the coming two weeks.
