Malawi developing stringent measures to deal with unscrupulous mining investors, Minister Mbawala.

Malawi: Dr. Albert Mbawala, Minister of Mining, has revealed that the ministry is developing stringent measures to ensure that unscrupulous mining investors do not exploit Malawians again, writes Watipaso Mzungu.

Mbawala stated in an interview on Monday that the measures are addressing concerned stakeholders, stating that the sector is prone to abuse and exploitation by foreign investors due to Malawi's inadequate legal and policy frameworks governing the sector.

The minister stated that President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera's administration is learning from theMbawala cited the recent discovery of rutile at Kasiya in Lilongwe, stating that the Chakwera administration will ensure that the project benefits Malawians to the greatest extent possible.

"In February 2021, the company announced its maiden Mineral Resource Estimate of 644 Million Tons of Natural Rutile Discovery at Kasiya at a grade of 1.01 percent rutile (0.7 percent cut-off grade) as an inferred resource, including a high-grade component of 137 Million Tons at a grade of 1.41 percent rutile (1.41 percent cut-off, inferred)."

According to the most recent Scoping Study Report, Sovereign Metals Limited has delineated a deposit of 1.8 billion tons of rutile at the Kasiya Rutile Project site at a grade of 1.01 percent rutile, effectively making it the world's largest rutile deposit.

According to Mbawala, the Kasiya tenement houses 18 million tons of recovered waste.

He assured Malawians that the future development of the Kasiya Rutile Project would bring significant benefits to the country in terms of GDP through royalties and taxes, as stipulated under the Mines and Minerals Act (Act No.8 of 2019) and the Taxation Act.

According to Mbawala, the benefits include employment and training, local business opportunities, and community development.

Meanwhile, the minister has expressed gratitude that most Malawians can now follow the country's mining activities.

According to Mbawala, this is the spirit that should be promoted in order to achieve meaningful economic growth through the mining sector.

"As a result, I assure the general public that revenue and contract information for any mining project will always be made available in order to bring transparency, accountability, and mistrust mitigation," he said.