This document provides recommendations for establishing sustainable artisanal mining in Southern Africa. It outlines five pillars for artisanal mining operations: ownership, venture registration, mineral production, mineral marketing, and exit strategy. For each pillar, principles and guidelines are proposed. The recommendations aim to formalize artisanal mining through simple registration processes, foster collaboration between miners and local communities, promote environmentally-friendly practices, and ensure land is properly reclaimed after mining is complete. The goal is to develop artisanal mining into a well-regulated sector that provides economic opportunities while mitigating social and environmental impacts.

1. Propositions for a sustainable
Artisanal Mining in Southern Africa
Claude Kabemba
Director
Southern Africa Resource Watch

2. Objectives
• Assist Government, artisanal miners and
communities achieve sustainable and sound
social, environmental and economic stewardship
in the ASM
• Provide guidelines on how to manage pivotal
mining pillars in this mining sub-sector.
• This work was done by the Ali-Douglas Research
Network, IDS-NUST and LSU. ADRN, Bulawayo.

3. Rational
• A lot of work, analysis, solution propositions have been
made to transform the ASM into a developmental sector. –
change has been slow
• The AMV has identified the ASM as critical sector capable
of contributing to economic development of countries,
especailly of communities where it takes place.
• If properly organise, ASM can create jobs, source
knowledge creation, source technological innovation and
advancement, and promote industrialiazation
• For these reasons, the sector requires constant and
effective evaluation and monitoring , and improvement of
the tools we use.

4. The Resource barometer
• The propositions found their foundation in the
resource Barometer (www.sarwatch.org)
• Create a regulatory framework to promote a
sustainable ASM by safeguarding social,
environmental, safety and health concerns,
• Decentralise the management of small scale
mining in terms of issuing of mining rights and
taxation, monitoring and sanctions.
• Pass strong legislation on the safety of vulnerable
population, especially women and children

5. Artisanal Mining Propositions
• Five pivotal pillars
– Ownership
– Venture registration
– Mineral production and value addition (where
necessary)
– Mineral Marketing
– Exit strategy
• Each of the pillars has operationalisation
guidelines on how best to undertake activities in
each pillar.

6. Ownership
• Local institutional arrangements that govern
ASM usually lack financial resources and
personnel to effectively monitor the sector.
This weakening of common property
regimes by the states has unfortunately
resulted in an open access system that has
witnessed indiscriminate extraction of
minerals from any geographical location
(DISORDER)-

7. Ownership: Recommended principles and
guidelines on property rights
• Government should have an updated geological and land use survey so that it is
aware of areas that are potentially rich in minerals. Settlements in such areas
should be discouraged to ensure that people do not lose their homes and
infrastructure once those areas are identified for extraction purposes. ( EX:
KASULO)
• Land and all natural resources that are not privately owned belong to the state,
the state must devolve enough control powers to local government structures to
ensure that there is effective control of mining activities done within and by
communities.
• Common property ownership rights should be promoted and respected by the
state to ensure that local institutions play an effective role in managing and
monitoring thus preventing resources from falling into a tragedy of commons
situation.
• National laws, regulations or Acts must ensure that property rights are respected.
Additionally, in the case of privately owned land, the law must ensure that the
owner also benefits from extraction activities through some share ownership
agreement to ensure that he/she does not bear the costs of rehabilitation alone.
• Governments should enact laws that enforce benefit sharing on resources
extracted from land under common property ownership. Such laws should also
benefit vulnerable groups who cannot practice mining.

8. VENTURE REGISTRATION
• Artisanal mining in many developing countries is characterised by
widespread informality with the majority of miners operating
outside the confines of the institutional environment.
• Literature shows that due to the institutional irregularities, the
voices of artisanal miners have been excluded from most
deliberation about their mining activities.
• The illegitimacy/ criminalisation of artisanal miners limits their
contribution to the national coffers, makes them vulnerable to
abuse and unfair treatment.
• The crimiminalisation push artisanal miners underground making
formalisation difficult with all the social and environmental
problems.
• The propositions consider artisanal mining registration and
formalisation as a multi-‐ staged process involving Recognition
and Amnesty, Actual Registration, Prospecting and Pegging.

9. Recognition and Amnesty
• As the first point of call towards formalisation,
there is a need for governments to recognise
the existence of artisanal mining, its
contribution to livelihoods and poverty
reduction=development. Recognition will see
the activities of artisanal miners incorporated
into formal institutional structures thereby
making the sector easier to manage.

10. Recognition and Amnesty:
Recommendations
• Define artisanal mining and its constituents at
national level, in collaboration with relevant
local stakeholders, including artisanal miners
• Enact enabling institutional frameworks that
recognise artisanal miners of diverse
definitions.
• Announce amnesty to all illegal miners and
disseminate such information, to facilitate
formalization.

11. Actual Registration
• The costs of registration in many countries are
perceived as high, due to the extensive
institutional requirements. Such costs push
many of small-‐scale miners into illegal
activities. Therefore, the registration
process must be simple and affordable to
all miners.

12. Registration: Recommendations
• Opening local offices for mining regulatory authorities
• As a part of obtaining “Social Operating License” that
will facilitate social corporate responsibility (SCR), Local
community leadership should recommend prospective
miners for allocation of mining claims (no
recommendation no claim).
• The final prospecting license should be obtained on the
basis of the community recommendation letter.
• Prospecting in private lands should involve the owner
of the land
• Prospecting fees have to be affordable and in sync with
national laws

13. Pegging
In most of Southern Africa, this stage usually
comes before the actual mining commences.
There are a number of processes to be followed
at this stage. After prospection, a claim has to be
pegged by the relevant authorities. The
authorities in most countries include those that
regulate environmental stewardship, agriculture,
water amongst others.

14. Pegging: Recommendations
• The supervision of the multiple requirements has to be devolved and
conducted by trained local people under the supervision of the
authorities in order to minimise costs and limited government human
resources.
• The process should also involve discussions between the local community
members and the prospective miner
• Develop a legal framework that will enable the reclamation of mined
lands. Hence, prior to the miners being presented with mining licences,
they should commit to paying a certain amount of money as a good
tenancy deposit (determined by relevant experts) over a specified period
of time. This money would be used to rehabilitate the environment should
the miner fail to do so. However, should the miner rehabilitate the land
s/he may reclaim the money. The money may be paid during the course of
production
• Local mining office should issue mining license and environmental license
after the multiple requirements have been met with the approval of the
community leadership.

15. MINERAL PRODUCTION
Small and isolated deposits of minerals are
scattered in and between countries across the
continent. These often lend themselves to
economic exploitation by small-‐scale miners
with modest demand on capital expenditure and a
short lead-‐time. They also provide employment
opportunities for the local population.
Contemporary production processes employed by
artisanal miners are synonymous with
environmental degradation.

16. Recommendations
• The propositions divides the artisanal mining
production process into FIVE major
components that are equipment concerns;
industrial support; capacity building; the
institutional dimension and community
monitoring

17. Equipment/approach
The mining production process uses multiple inputs that are
potentially harmful to the natural environment and human life. Thus,
the practice of artisanal mining
• has to be undertaken using the latest knowledge from scientific
research on environmentally friendly productions inputs
• Miners must use latest efficient methodologies that allow for the
millings of ore on cite in order to facilitate and simplify the filling of
pits
• In addition to environmentally friendly inputs, a continuous process
of research into more efficient portable machinery is required
• Sources of water must be present in order to facilitate production
• Mining activities must be biased towards methods less harmful to
the environment such as shaft mining
• Mills must be in close proximity to the mines to avoid transporting
ore over long distances

18. Industrial support
• Artisanal miners need to obtain support
(capacity building; equipment; etc.,) from
larger firms in the industry within the vicinity
(this may be done through community share
ownership trusts and other forms of
institutional support).
• Established mines and artisanal miners
should thrive to create a win-‐win
relationship

19. Capacity building
• Artisanal miners should receive regular training on
entrepreneurship and mining venture management; operation
of latest customised equipment; environmental management
and the ruling institutional framework
• The community that hosts the artisanal miners must be
regularly trained on issues related to the negative effects of
child labour; harmful chemicals in mining; the mining value
chain and environmental degradation in mining

20. Institutional dimension
• Artisanal miners must be aware and clear regarding the institutions
that govern their activities in order to avoid duplication and
corruption.
• Environmental management authorities should regularly monitor
mine activities through trained community based
individuals/committees
• Collection of portions of the good-‐tenant security deposit must be
undertaken during the production phase of the mining venture
• Collection of potions of any community income remissions must be
undertaken during the production process
• To promote sustainable production, dedicated financial support
from a devoted financial institution or department within a financial
institution is a requirement.

21. Community monitoring
• A dedicated community committee on mining
activities should regularly monitor production
activities based on preliminary the group
discussions with prospective miners
specifically in:
• Disallowing and reporting the use/misuse of
certain chemicals in Mining in agreed areas

22. MINERAL MARKETING
• In spite of the serious economic ramifications of illegal marketing of
precious minerals, a sizeable chunk of high value mineral sales from
artisanal and small-‐scale miners is done through parallel or black
markets
• Artisanal miners are generally poor people and as such subscribe to
a subsistence economy where daily subsistence is dependent on the
minerals mined. This means they expect quick returns from their
investment into mineral extraction.
• Furthermore, artisanalminersrelyonmiddlemento markettheir
minerals.
• Similarly,asaresultofthe illegality of artisanal mining, inefficiencies
in transportation, long trading chains amongst others,onlyaminute
partofthewealthgeneratedfromminingreachestheminer

23. MINERAL MARKETING
• For the miners to get fair prices and to detract against the use of
parallel market channels for the minerals mined it is critical that
access to official markets be put at the core of formalisation
strategies. In this vein, providing simplified access to recognised
buying channels can help miners increase their income and bring
the mineral production into the formal economy
• Whilst it is prudent for a country to have a central buyer of high
value minerals for accountability and security purposes, it is not
desirable to maintain such an arrangement if leakages of these
minerals is to be contained. Thus, it is necessary for the central
buyer to appoint its official agents who will operate from the
communities ensuring that they always provide the ready cash to
the miners
• The designated buyers of any high value minerals should buy the
minerals at reigning international market prices

24. MINERAL MARKETING
• The central buyers of minerals can enter into pre-‐financing arrangements
with the miners to deter the miners from brokering similar deals with
unscrupulous intermediaries. Through this kind of arrangement, the
licensed agents can assist the miners with financial capital required for
operations with the miners selling their minerals exclusively to these
buyers
• With the maturing of marketing systems, countries can consider adopting
ethical certification in order to give artisanal and small-‐scale miners the
opportunity to trade their minerals under better selling terms and
conditions. This will also encourage miners to produce minerals
according to a set of standards (including environmental, social and ethical
standards). This can be done in conjunction with established certification
syndicates such as Fair trade and Fair-‐mined Gold, the Responsible
Jewellery Council and Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance
(IRMA) amongst others

25. Mineral Marketing
• It is also worth exploring synergistic relationships between
artisanal miners and large-‐scale miners in areas where
there are vibrant large-‐scale mines (LSM). In this
arrangement artisanal miners can be pre-‐financed by LSM
and the artisanal miners in turn sell their minerals through
the LSM
• There should be no lower limits placed on the amount of
minerals that can be sold to the central buyer or its agents
• Production and selling records for each miner should be
maintained or at the very least accessible to designated
local authorities superintending over the mines in the area.

26. Exit Strategy
• Improper mine-‐closure and lack of
reclamation can lead to serious environmental
ills. In light of all this, measures need to be put
in place to ensure good practice in winding up
of artisanal mining activities

27. Land reclamation
• Artisanal miners should present their envisaged
process/plan of land reclamation to the community leaders
before commencement of mining itself
• To be effective and sustainable, the efforts to reverse
environmental damage and restore productive activities
should be agreed on in collaboration with the communities.
It is very critical for the communities (including vulnerable
groups) themselves to have a strong sense of ownership of
the process
• Reclamation should not just end with filling up pits, but
should be followed up immediately with secondary
activities such as agricultural production, to give people an
incentive to refrain from re-‐mining the reclaimed land.

28. Good tenancy deposit
• A good tenancy deposit should be collected from
the artisanal miners that will be liquidated upon
satisfactory of land reclamation efforts. The good
tenancy deposit cannot be lower than the cost of
reclamation and the rate charged should be
directly linked to the scale of operation.
• Part of the good tenancy deposit will also go
towards payment of royalty fees that will be used
to assist the vulnerable groups in the mining
communities.

29. Clearance process with authorities
• Upon finishing the mining activities, the miner should
also seek clearance by the authorities across board.
The local authorities should consult with the rest of the
community to establish whether the miner fulfilled the
requirements before exiting. Upon, satisfactory
consultations and observation, the local authorities can
then clear the miner and give a written and stamped
letter of clearance.
• The miner can then produce the clearance documents
upon claiming the good tenancy deposit from relevant
authorities.