07 Jun 2018

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security says government is set to bring before Parliament the Minerals Policy for approval.

Delivering a keynote address at the 16th annual Botswana Resource Sector Conference on behalf of Minister Eric Molale yesterday (June 7), Mr Cornelius Dekop said the policy sought to improve the investment climate in the minerals sector.

Mr Dekop said the ministry had worked on the policy for the past three years and had taken into account prevailing conditions in the minerals industry.

“We have completed legislative amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act, Precious and Semi-Precious Stones Act and Diamond Cutting Act. Our aim is to find a slot to submit the bills to Parliament during this year,” he said.

He said they believed that the proposed amendments to the legislative instruments would improve the ease of doing business.

The conference, he said, also provided a forum for information sharing and networking, which he said was vital for the mineral sector as delegates appreciated what government and the private sector were doing in pursuit of developing the mining industry.

Also, he indicated that the country’s economy continued to depend on revenue earned from the mineral sector.

“In 2017/18 mining contributed 18.1 per cent to GDP, 29 per cent to government revenue, P17.1 billion in dividends, royalties while taxes and employment in our mines stood at 16 394 from March this year,” he said.

He noted that the ministry had issued 1 032 prospecting and 23 mining licenses for different minerals from May this year.

He added that they were currently assessing two mining licenses applications for coal and most of the coal prospecting operations had long been undertaken, with the only barrier being limited infrastructure to enable export of coal.

Further, he said government was committed to developing rail infrastructure to export coal in partnership with the private sector.

“We continue to engage with our neighbors South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique on railway options available,” he added.

Again, he told delegates that monetisation of the country’s coal resources remained an area of focus for government in line with the coal roadmap.

He said government viewed the development of coal as a key step to driving employment creation as well as diversifying the mining sector.

On other ministry developments, Mr Dekop said construction of a 400kv line from Morupule to Maun commenced in January this year.

“The transmission line will be extended to reach Shakawe and Ghanzi where it will be able to supply power to various exploration projects in those areas. The project will cost about P2.4 billion and is estimated to take 12 months to complete,” he said.

Refurbishment of Morupule A power station, he added was also ongoing with two units ready while the other two units would be completed next month (July).

He added that remedial work to fix defects on Morupule B power station was also about to start. Nevertheless, he said the ministry was aware of various delays in issuing mining permits and licenses.

“We will work towards trying to streamline government permit approvals for mineral resources companies. The main area of concern for companies seems to be the period taken to approve Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs),” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister Molale also attended the conference along with various CEOs from different companies and other stakeholders in the resource sector. ENDS