We hereby inform the business community and other interested parties, that a pilot census of artisanal miners began on the 26th of this month with duration of one month, in four provinces of the Country, namely, Gaza, Tete, Niassa and Cabo Delgado.

The census results from an initiative developed by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, through the National Institute of Mines (INAMI), with the following main objectives: i) the regularization of artisanal mining; ii) the definition of polices and strategies aimed at allowing the informal miners to operate legally; and iii) access weather the necessary conditions are in place to carry out a main census, such as, collecting data on the living conditions in the communities where artisanal mining is practiced.

It should be noted that, according to data from INAMI, the Country has at least 1.044  points where artisanal mining is practiced and they are focused in some specific mineral with emphasis on gold, precious and semi-precious stones, such as ruby.