By GIDEON NYENDWA
GOVERNMENT will next week meet Grizzly Mining Limited to discuss the $10 million mining equipment offer to the small-scale emerald miners, Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Paul Kabuswe has said.
Mr. Kabuswe said he was interested in the mining equipment loan offer to the small-scale emerald miners because it would help sort out some of the challenges the miners were facing.
He said next week he will be on the Copperbelt to attend to pressing issues that surround the mining sector in the province and he will within that time meet up with Grizzly Mining Limited.
Mr. Kabuswe said he will engage the mining company to learn the intricacies of their offer so that they could understand what had been agreed upon between the small-scale miners and the previous government.
Grizzly Mining Limited committed to spend $10 million to procure mining equipment as a loan for small-scale emerald miners on condition that they formed cooperatives.
The mining firm was ready to procure the equipment on condition that the small-scale miners in Lufwanyama, numbering 600, form cooperatives and acquire a single mining licence.
Mr. Kabuswe said he had not received any official information regarding the offer to procure mining equipment for the small-scale emeralds miners.
He said he had just gotten wind of the information from the press that was the reason why he needed to understand the whole deal before they could make any commitments.
Mr. Kabuswe said that there were a lot of illegalities that were going on across the country in the mining sector that was why he had taken it upon himself to make sure that the anomalies were corrected.
He said the UPND government welcomes anything that would add value to the mining sector especially in the small-scale mining sector that was why he had taken it upon himself to make sure that the deal was actualised.
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