‘MaShurugwi will hit mining output if left unchecked’
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rtisanal and small-scale miners are said to contribute more than 60% of gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refiners. However, many of them remain informal. It is said that more than 1,5 million artisanal miners are not registered. Last year, the small-scale mining sector was troubled by a rowdy group of machete-wielding criminals known as MaShurugwi, who robbed several miners of their gold. Most analysts in the mining sector said machete violence in the artisanal mining sector would affect government’s US$12 billion mining vision by 2023. In this interview, NewsDay (ND) reporter Thomas Chidamba speaks to Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) chief executive Wellington Takavarasha (WT) about issues affecting the mining sector.