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MetBank avails $10m facility for smallscale miners

17 Sep, 2018 - 14:09 0 Views
MetBank avails $10m facility for smallscale miners

eBusiness Weekly

Munyaradzi Musiiwa
MIDLANDS – Metropolitan Bank (MetBank) has availed a $10 million loan facility to small scale and artisanal miners.

The loan facility is in form of equipment, chemicals and other mining related accessories that would be accessed by registered small scale and artisanal miner to enhance productivity.

MetBank Executive Director Banking, Mr Ephraim Chawoneka the bank is still doing a research to see if the bank could increase the facility.

“We have availed a 10 million loan facility to small scale and artisanal miners. We are also offering them financial guidance so that they are responsible with money they get from their mining proceeds. We are trying to augment what fidelity has already done and what the Zimbabwe School of Mines is doing. We realised Fidelity is confined to gold miners,” he said.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Ns Henrietta Rushwaya said the miners will use the equipment as collateral such that when they fail to pay back the bank will repossess the machinery without attaching any other property.

“We entered into an alliance with MetBank so that they can procure machinery for smallscale and artisanal miners. We realised that some banks were not willing to take such a risk but MetBank agreed. This is also part of encouraging artisanal miners to formalise their activities.

The equipment will be given to artisanal and small scale miners on relaxed terms. They do not need any collateral because the equipment can still be repossessed if they fail to pay the money,” she said.

Ms Rushwaya said miners were targeting producing more than 30 tonnes of gold this year and have already reached 65 percent of the target.

“Our annual target gold output is 30 tonnes. We have already reached 65 percent of that target and we still have three months to go. I have no doubt that we are going to surpass that target,” she said.

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