en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Zimbabwe School of Mines (ZSM) has proposed making its Responsible Small-Scale Mining Principles Certificate (PRSM/S01) a legal requirement for holding or retaining small-scale mining rights in the country, submitting the proposal to the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (MMMD).
During a technical presentation to a ministry delegation led by Permanent Secretary Dr. Thomas Utete Wushe, ZSM Training and Operations Manager Eng Martin January stated that the proposal aims to amend the Mining (Management and Safety) Regulations (Statutory Instrument 109 of 1990), requiring each mine site to have a certified "responsible person" and imposing civil penalties for violations.
The proposal comes as artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has become a core source of Zimbabwe's gold production, yet safety concerns remain prominent. The government has been pushing formalization as a solution, with Mines Minister Polite Kambamura previously describing training certificates as "a passport to formalization" and "an obligation for responsible mining." ZSM's proposal seeks to legalize this principle under a "use it or lose it" framework by linking the PRSM certificate to the new digital mining cadastre register.
Under the proposal, the Explosives Act's requirement for a full blasting license would be reinforced through the PRSM certificate, reflecting the reality that ASM accounts for a large proportion of industry accidents. By codifying the regulations into the amended Mining (Management and Safety) Regulations, every small-scale mine site must have a certified "responsible person," with violators facing civil penalties. The enforcement mechanism relies on Zimbabwe's new digital mining cadastre register, where title holders must upload their PRSM certificates for all registrations, transfers, and annual reviews. Failure to do so would trigger automatic alerts under the "use it or lose it" principle, potentially leading to loss of the mining right.
ZSM's proposal aims to eliminate informal mining, shift compliance responsibility to miners themselves, and create sustained demand for responsible mining training. If adopted, the proposal would embed safety requirements directly into ASM sector law, making training certificates a legal requirement for holding mining rights rather than optional.
The proposal is currently awaiting deliberation by the Ministry of Mines. If approved, small-scale miners across Zimbabwe will need to complete the PRSM/S01 course to keep their mining rights valid.
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