NEW MINES AND MINERAL ACT ANNOUNCED

The Minister of Mining, Mr. Serialong Qoo has announced an amendment Act for artisanal and small-scale mining.
The announcement was made at the press conference held at mining premises in Maseru on Thursday.
Mr. Qoo said the government of Lesotho through the Ministry of Mining has formulated the Mines and Mineral (Amendment) Act 2022, saying this Amendment Act allows small-scale mining to be legalized.
He said small-scale mining contributes to government revenue, saying 500 billion is collected from the mining sector annually.
He said this act will allow Basotho to start their operations once they have obtained a mineral permit and that the commissioner has set aside the site for such operation.
He added that the bill has been gazetted to allow Basotho to start their operations, noting that this task will be done in collaboration with other ministries.
He said his ministry will tour ten districts to allocate sites where small-scale miners will mine diamonds, saying the tour will include the Commissioner of Mining in this project.
Moreover, he said small-scale miners will be educated on the operations of the mining sector before they commence their projects.
The Minister said the ministry will not sell diamonds on behalf of the miners but there will be auctions to sell these diamonds, noting that the set date for auctioning diamonds will be announced by the ministry.
However, Mr. Qoo said for now the ministry does not have a budget for this project but they will go before the Cabinet to ask for the funds to pilot this project.
He stressed that no foreigner will be given a license to operate in this sector, noting that this project is only meant for the locals.
Also speaking, the Commissioner of Mines, Mr. Pheello Tjatja said the ministry has a long-term goal regarding the mining sector, saying they wish to have all operations regarding diamond processing be done in the country.
He said the Ministry aims to have diamonds being polished and cut in the country before introduced to the international markets.
Commenting on a foreign issue, Mr. Tjatja said the constitution does not allow foreigners to mine Lesotho minerals.
The Mines and Mineral (Amendment) Act 2022 states that the conduct of small-scaling mining operations may apply for a mineral permit to conduct such operations for any minerals over an area not exceeding 100m².
The Act further states that the holder of the mineral permit must act on operations within two months after obtaining a diamond mineral permit and also report the discovery of other minerals in the course of mining than the ones for which the permit is issued for.
By Staff Reporter: Noliwe Velaphe