Government’s delay to grant Nyala Mining Company, an international mining consortium that exports gemstones, a permit to install a new production machine is preventing the creation of 150 new jobs.
In an interview, the company’s project geologist Thomas Mussa-Mbewe said they want to migrate from exploration to full commercial production through acquisition of a $500 000 (K366 million) machinery that has been lying idle on site for over two years.
“When we were purchasing the equipment, government gave us a go-ahead, but now to give us a permit for its installation is taking long,” he said.
Mussa-Mbewe said the firm is determined to boost the mining industry and government has to create a conducive environment for this to happen.
The company’s human resources manager Rashid Mapira said they ensure that all people in the supply chain benefit from mining .
“The viability of any mine anywhere in the world depends on the volume one can process; hence, the more you produce the lower the cost per tone. The new machinery could help in the creation of jobs and result in increased taxes for government,” he said.
Mapira said the miner adheres to a detailed set of protocols that Columbia Gem House—the world’s largest supplier of brand-name exotic gemstones—by producing the gems with respect to the environment and disclosing how the gems are mined, cut, processed and made into jewelry. n
