06 Feb 2017

Some sand and gravel miners have called on the government to consider ways of speeding up issuance of mining licences.

They aired their views during a meeting recently that some people resort to illegal mining because of the long processes one had to go through to acquire both the prospective and mining licences.

During a meeting that sought to sensitise stakeholders about the impact of illegal mining and to introduce new alternative to sand mining, participants also appreciated the benefits of manufactured sand mining but called for a stop shop for all departments involved in the processing of licences.

They said even though manufactured sand was strong and easy to work with, it was too costly as it required quality machinery which needs high level of technical expertise.

Some called the relevant department to embark on an education drive to sensitise the communities about the new alternative so that they could appreciate the benefits.

Participants also called for a standardised price for manufactured sand noting that business people would have already benefited from the exploration process.

Some sand and gravel miners called for a waiver so that they could prepare to legalise their operations but they were told that in mining there is no waiver hence they had to follow the right procedure.

Earlier on, an ecologist, Dr Gomotsang Tshoso informed the gathering that manufactured sand mining projects will pose a challenge for Ngmailand as the region is sitting on a delta.

When presenting about what was available in Ngamiland as far as manufactured sand mining was concerned, she explained that sand miners would not easily get sand as the rivers do not have sand.

Dr Tshoso explained that in terms of exploration and drilling, sand miners would have to dig deep into their pockets as the process would be costly.

 “It is possible to get source rocks in the Ngamiland area but it is going to be challenging,” she stressed. She explained that Ngamiland had huge deposits of aeolian sand as compared to river sand.

Dr Tshoso cited Lake Ngami which she said had no sand before it flooded. ENDS