UNEARTHING THE HIDDEN GEM: Artisanal Mining and its struggles in Rural Zambia

The author interacting with the miners at a mining pit in Mapatizya.

NESTLED in the heart of Southern Africa, Zambia is known for its rich mineral resources, including copper, cobalt, zinc, and emeralds. While large-scale mining operations dominate the industry, artisanal mining has quietly emerged as a vital source of livelihood for rural communities.

This feature article aims to shed light on the often-underreported artisanal mining sector in rural Zambia, exploring its impact on the local economy, environment, and the lives of those involved.

Artisanal mining refers to small-scale, often unregulated, mining activities conducted by individuals or small groups using basic tools and methods. In rural Zambia such as Mapatizya, in Zimba district, artisanal mining plays a crucial role, particularly in communities left marginalised by large-scale mining operations such as Kariba Minerals, operating a gemstone mine in the area.

It provides an avenue for local residents to extract mineral resources independently, sustaining their livelihoods and empowering local economies.

These miners sweat it out and risk their lives in the mining pits dotted in various hills, to get at least a kilogramme of tin, which they then sell cheaply to buyers from outside town, mostly from Copperbelt and Lusaka province.

One such miner is Estely Siambalo. She is a 42-year-old mother of seven and can be easily located at a site in Chilobe, a community in Mapatizya area in Zimba.

She, together with her children, including her youngest child who is only seven, come to dig in the pits. Make no mistake, it is a dangerous venture - and they do not wear any protective clothing at all.

Ms Estely has to involve her children if she has to increase her chances of getting enough tin to sell and meet her family’s needs. A cupful of tin is roughly about 200ml and can weigh about three kilogrammes.

“On a day, if I am lucky, I can get a cup or two,” she says. “We used to sell it at K35 per kilogramme.”

On the London Metal Exchange (LME), the prices of tin nearly doubled from between US$18,184 and US$18,530 per tonne in October last year to trade somewhere between US$27,030 and US$32,950 per tonne.

“But that is after the buyers have sieved and separated the bad ones from the good ones. So, sometimes, what you thought was three kilogrammes can even come down to 1.5 kilogrammes after the process.”

Clearly, it’s a huge gamble. “Sometimes, it can take you a week to get a cupful of good quality tin,” says Ms Estely who has been mining in these pits since 1985.

Asked to single out at least one tangible item that she has bought from the money she has earned, she couldn’t even find the courage to lift a finger.

“There is nothing significant,” she says. “We just do it because there is nothing else to do here. The area is hilly and farming is not easy because of the stones and landscape.”

Sorting out the quality.

She is not alone.

Similonga Makowa is also a regular at the site. He says on some days, the site can have as many as 30 people digging for tin with rudimentary tools such as shovels, chisels and hammers.

Some women can also be seen with woven sieves which they use to sieve the mineral in readiness to separate the good quality from the bad ones with a magnet.

“One of the things that delay us is the benching [the process of putting some kind of scaffolding to protect the pit from caving in]. It takes a lot of time, but otherwise, on a good day, you can get even more than three kilogrammes a day,” he says.

Ironically, it seems Mr Makowa knows what risks come with mining from the site but for obvious reasons, he turns a blind eye to them.

“It’s not safe, I know. But what can I do?” he asks. “That is why we need enough manpower here to guarantee safety.”

Luckily for the miners, there has been no accident at the site, maybe yet.

“There is another tungsten pit nearby where the walls caved in and injured a woman. As for us here, we haven’t recorded any accident yet,” says the miner.

The Government recently gave a 90-day amnesty to illegal miners to have their operations formalised or legalised.

Paul Kabuswe

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka recently, Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe announced the reopening of the Cadastre Department, which signifies the resumption of the issuance of mining licences. 

He warned that small-scale and artisanal miners that would be operating illegally after the amnesty period would be arrested.

“The Ministry of Mines has been given Cabinet approval to start the formalisation of the small-scale and artisanal miners,” he said.

Artisanal mining acts as a lifeline for communities without access to alternative income sources. In rural Zambia, where job opportunities are scarce, artisanal mining provides a means for survival. The sector ensures equitable wealth distribution, as earnings are retained within the community and spent on essential needs such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure development.

Moreover, artisanal mining preserves traditional practices and cultural heritage. Through the passing down of mining techniques from generation to generation, community members maintain a deep connection with the land and their ancestors, reinforcing their sense of identity and belonging.

While artisanal mining holds economic and sociocultural benefits, it also poses environmental challenges. The use of rudimentary tools and lack of regulatory oversight often result in poor mining practices, leading to land degradation, soil erosion, and water pollution. Additionally, increased deforestation and wildlife disturbances affect the delicate ecosystems surrounding mining sites.

Addressing these issues requires a collaborative effort between local communities, government bodies, and non-governmental organisations. Initiatives aiming to improve mining techniques, offer training on sustainable practices, and provide access to equipment can help mitigate the environmental impact of artisanal mining.

Recognising the potential of artisanal mining to contribute positively to the local economy while preserving the environment, stakeholders in Zambia are beginning to devise strategies to improve the sector's sustainability. Encouraging artisanal miners to organise into cooperatives promotes better governance and access to support services. Cooperative members can also pool resources to acquire more efficient machinery, reducing the sector's overall environmental footprint.

It is these compounding reasons that Caritas Zambia through a Swedish faith-based organisation, Diakonia has had engagements with various artisanal miners in Mapatizya and other places across the country to try and see how they can turn the tables and be able to earn more from the mineral than they are currently earning.

Chepa Lesa is programmes officer at Caritas Zambia. She says since 2019, it has, with the help of the Diakonia-funded Strengthened Accountability Programme (SAP II) project, decided to step in and help.

Chepa Lesa

“Our role was mainly to facilitate the attainment of a mining licence because when we went there initially, they were mining illegally and the price at which they were selling tin for was very low, at K35 per kilogramme,” she says.

Apart from Southern province, Caritas Zambia has also worked with similar miners in North Western, Copperbelt and Luapula provinces where artisan miners face many similar challenges, among them safety and lack of proper equipment.

Ms Lesa wants the miners to quickly get a mining licence if they are to benefit from the mineral. She says the miners are being exploited by briefcase buyers because they lack proper documentation.

Whitewaters Development Trust (WDT) is also another organisation that has been working closely with the Mapatizya community in trying to make sure that they have a sustainable livelihood. The organisation has offices in Zimba and Choma.

WDT director and senior trustee Jeffrey Mikunga who is also a magistrate at the Zimba local court says the organisation's thematic areas are climate change, sports development for youths, agriculture and tourism and mining.

“When we went there, we found those people mining without safety measures and it got us worried and concerned. We started to try and legalise the process for them - it was an expensive venture so the quotation we got was somewhere around US$25,000 and we couldn't find people to help us with the money,” he says.

At the governmental level, strengthening regulatory frameworks and ensuring effective enforcement of environmental and labour laws are vital. Alongside this, providing support for alternative livelihood opportunities, such as agricultural and tourism initiatives, creates a diversified economy that reduces communities' dependency on mining alone.

Emelda Munashabantu

Mapatizya Constituency Member of Parliament Emeldah Munashabantu Ms Munashabantu who has been at the forefront advocating for better mining conditions and the formalising of the sector in her constituency, hopes that there will be order once the mining cadastre issues licences to all those intending to conduct any mining related activities in the area.

She hopes as many people in her area form and register cooperatives so that they can formally apply for exploration and mining licences.

“My interest is the locals,” she said. “Government is looking at the bigger picture,which is mining in Zambia. But for me, I am mostly interested to see my people in Mapatizya benefiting more. Mapatizya is rich in minerals such as tungsten, amethyst, and even tin.”

Of late, there has been a discovery of more minerals in various parts of the country, resulting in concerns of a sharp rise in illegal mining activities mainly by locals who feel they need to directly benefit from the natural resources.

However, the Zambia Chamber of Mines has cautioned against tolerating illegal mining activities.

Sokwani Chilembo

Chamber of Mines chief executive officer, Sokwani Chilembo said in an interview that if well managed, the discovery of minerals, can help address high unemployment levels while contributing to boost the national treasury.

“The lesson here is that we need to be more structured about our exploration regime. There are ways of structuring the tax code to incentivise the institutions to invest in exploration so that Zambians go out and do it properly,” he said.

Artisanal mining in rural Zambia represents an intricate tapestry of challenges and opportunities. Although its unregulated nature poses environmental risks, the sector plays a fundamental role in sustaining rural livelihoods and fostering community resilience.

By addressing these challenges through collaborative efforts and sustainable practices, artisanal mining can continue to unlock the hidden gem of rural Zambia, benefiting local communities for generations to come.

For now, Zambians whose areas are endowed with these minerals, remain subjected to unfair pricing and driven into mining activities without safety measures taken into consideration.