Government Establish Gold Processing Plant in Mumbwa

Mines Permanent Secretary Kabeta addressed hundreds of miners in the Nangoma constituency who were affected by the closure of Lwili Mine due to safety concerns and illegal activities.

Lwili Mine was closed two weeks ago after the Zambian National Service was engaged to restore order at the site, which was recording increased deaths, among other issues. 

However, the Permanent Secretary came with an assurance for those affected: “The Nangoma mine area will open on Friday; we want to know who is going into a mine; at the moment, we do not have a statistic of who is going into the mines’ said Mr Kabeta.

The Government has since bought a processing plant that will be set up in the area to monitor the retail value chain of gold being extracted from the mines. 

Permanent Secretary Kabeta says the development will curb the smuggling of gold from Mumbwa and out of the country. 

Kabeta announced that the Ministry of Mines had identified the Mumbwa district in Central Province as a key area with the potential to contribute to the country’s gold reserves. “We see Mumbwa as part of the government plan to build up our reserves in the central bank. Additionally, royalty tax will not be collected from cooperatives but from processing plants,” said the Permanent Secretary. 

Mr Kabeta concluded the announcement by explaining that the goal is to ensure that mining activities are regulated but also contribute to the growth of the economy.