By CHATULA KANGALI –
Government has sourced US$700,000 from the European Union (EU) to promote extraction of low-value minerals in the country.
Mines and Minerals Development Permanent Secretary, Paul Chanda said the funds would be used to promote activities related to sand, stone, rock-breaking and special clay.
He said in an interview that the funds would be given to the Government soon through the ministry of Mines.
“We have sourced some funds from the EU for the  promotion of the low-value mineral industry  such as special clay, sand, stones and rock-breaking in the country.
“There are a number of small-scale miners, especially women, in the country that are engaged in this business,” he said.
Mr Chanda said the industry had not been recognised for a long time, and that funding of the industry would make it grow and add value to the economic development of the country.
He said the Government would soon embark on identifying people engaged in these activities countrywide.
“We want to know how many people in the country are in this industry, where they are located and the gender parity once the data is collected.
“We will then train them in capacity building and entrepreneurship skills,” he said.
Mr Chanda said funding of the low-value mineral industry would boost the capital base for the  players that had for a long time been operating on a small-scale basis.
He said once the industry grew, the Government would help the players acquire contracts from big companies.
Mr Chanda called on players in the industry to start forming cooperatives which would help the Government to easily identify them.