Mining & Trade News

Stakeholders in Malawi’s extractive sector had an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences on issues of transparency and accountability with colleagues from the Southern Africa region thanks to a workshop that a civil society group the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA) through the UNIKA-Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in the Malawi Extractive Sector Project hosted in Lilongwe.

The workshop was aimed at equipping stakeholders from the extractive sector with knowledge and experience on how they can strengthen extractive governance.

It was organized under the theme of ‘Strengthening Natural Resources Governance through Shared Learning.’

The workshop brought together players from Civil Society, members of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) Multi Stakeholder Group (MSG) in the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries, Malawi government and the Media. 

Executive Director for CEPA Herbert Mwalukomo hailed the meeting saying it provided a platform where local players learnt how stakeholders handle issues of transparency and accountability across the southern Africa region.

Mwalukomo also said the workshop enabled players to deliberate on how the extractive sector is benefiting locals in various mining areas across the country.

He said: “Ultimately we are looking at how Malawi is benefiting from the extractive industry. So this workshop is all about learning from our colleagues in the region in terms of what they have done in upholding issues of transparency including tax justice.

“That is why we have invited even colleagues from Tax Justice Africa to share experiences from the entire African region so that we can use those lessons in applying good practices in Malawi.”

“As you know as a country we have just established a company that will be working under Malawi Development Corporation to try and run own projects or own shares in some of the companies that are in the extractive sector. So the question is how can we make use of that opportunity to ensure that we do not go through the same old terrain where we were actually ripped off as a country?”

“We have to make sure we are doing it equitably and that communities around the projects are getting maximum benefits, at the same time we have to ensure that the country is attractive to investors from all over the world.”

CEPA invited members of EITI MSG who are also under Publish What Your Pay (PWYP) representatives from countries such as Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda.

Malawi joined EITI and adopted the EITI framework in 2015 to be part of the global standard. MWEITI is coordinated by the Secretariat under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, and brings together different players in the sector.

In his remarks, Leonard Mushane from MWEITI Secretariat lauded the 2023 EITI Standard saying it has huge impact on the extractive sector of the country.

Mushane said unlike the previous EITI Standard, the new standard incorporates new crucial areas including gender and energy transitions.

He also said despite having a panicking economy, Malawi is doing fairly well in terms of tax justice compared to other developing countries.  

Mushane said: “From my understanding in terms of tax justice, the country is not doing entirely bad because looking at our tax base we cannot compare it with developing countries since we have a small economy.”

“Our system is doing well because those that earn more pay higher taxes than those who earn less,” he said.

He, however urged mining companies to ensure that they conduct a larger part of their mineral processing activities within the country to maximize their contribution towards the Malawi’s economy.

 “We hear issues of externalization of funds, transfer pricing, a lot of tax planning with these multinational mining companies. So we need to do more so that we can protect our economy and our tax system,” said Mushane.

But Mushane lamented that MWEITI Secretariat is facing numerous challenges including lack of financing and understaffing, which are weighing in on its activities including dissemination of EITI reports.

“We are not able to reach out to the ground. People do not know much about our reports because of financial challenges that have also triggered lack of networking with CSOs,” he said.

CEPA organized the workshop with funding from Southern Africa Trust, an independent non-profit organization and grant making entity.

Commenting on the progress of the UNIKA project, Communication and Research Associate for Southern Africa Trust Moyna Mwenye said she is impressed with how CEPA is spearheading the transparency and accountability aspect in Malawi’s minerals sector to benefit and safeguard lives of communities.

Mwenye said: “Our specific interest to work with CEPA is to ensure that people’s lives are being safeguarded.”

“Whatever companies in the extractive sector are doing directly impacts communities on the ground, and these people need to be informed about mining projects in all stages.”

“That is why we are working with CEPA as well as other partners in Malawi and other countries to ensure that whatever happens on the ground is transparent, people know the impact, are participating and also contributing in reducing their poverty and levels of inequality,” said Mwenye.

Southern Africa Trust is currently working to support partners in the Southern Africa Developing Community (SADC) region in various thematic areas including gender justice, climate justice, youth empowerment, resources governance and socio-economic recovery.

The workshop covered areas such as beneficial ownership disclosure, EITI regulatory framework and tax justice.

We welcome news that ASX-listed Globe Metals & Mining has finally decided to set up a refinery for the Kanyika ore in Lilongwe rescinding its earlier decision to refine the ore outside Malawi.

We thank Globe Metals for making this important decision despite having both the mining license and mining development agreement which legally empowers them to start mining at Kanyika.

As reported in our front page article, this announcement by Globe meets Malawians long-expressed wishes for local value-addition, instead of seeing the country’s mineral resources routinely exported overseas to be transformed into high-value saleable products.

By producing Niobium and Tantalum oxides within Malawi for export to world markets, the Kanyika Mine will add significantly to the country’s foreign exchange earnings, boosting the Balance of Payments account and raising the National Gross Domestic Product.

We also feel this refinery will provide lots of jobs to Malawians which would have been lost if processing of this ore was to be conducted in Namibia.

In addition, the setting up of this refinery in Malawi will assist in capacity building of the locals who will acquire knowledge and skills from expatriates engaged at the facility.

Setting up of this refinery in Malawi will also assist Government to easily monitor the products from the ore as the Kanyika deposit contains niobium, tantalum, uranium and zircon.

We, therefore, appreciate the efforts by the Malawi Government to convince Globe Metals to set up this refinery within Malawi.

We share the view of the Malawi Government that local value addition is the way to go for Malawi if the country is to fully reap from the potential of its mineral sector.

The country is producing graduates in mining related courses such as metallurgy who are expecting to get jobs and the best way to create jobs for them is to establish laboratories for mineral processing and refineries within Malawi.

Countries in the region such as Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia are encouraging local value addition so Malawi does not have to lag behind.

The current hype in exploration activities for industrial minerals such as niobium and rare earths is a clear indication that Malawi has enormous potential for these minerals so it is important that Government should uphold strict local content policies to maximise benefits for the nation.  

The Ministry of Mining says construction of the new mineral laboratory in Area 4, Lilongwe will adequately benefit the artisanal and small scale miners (ASMs) in Malawi.

Public Relations officer in the Ministry Tibonge Kampondeni tells Mining & Trade Review that the construction of the Mineral Laboratory, which State President Lazarus Chakwera mentioned in his State of the Nation Address at the opening of the current budget sitting of Parliament, was completed and some of the equipment has been purchased, waiting for commissioning.

She says the facility will start operating once the equipment is commissioned and the staff are trained on how to operate it.

Kampondeni explains that when the laboratory is commissioned, the Ministry will utilize it to provide training programmes to ASMs in cutting and polishing of stones, and some value addition in order to generate more revenue from their products.

“When you do value addition, prices increase. This will result in more revenue generation for the ASMs,” says Kampondeni.

She says understanding that most of the ASMs sell raw minerals which reduces their benefits, the new facility will focus on processing targeting gemstones.

“In terms of capacity building, we are looking at procuring more mineral analysis equipment, but currently we will focus on processing,” says Kampondeni.

She also says the Ministry of Mining will continue with its initiatives to support the ASMs to increase their productivity including formalizing them into registered cooperatives that can be easily accessed for provision of training and financial support.

Kampondeni says the Ministry has planned to continue training the ASMs in sustainable mining and recent technologies to help them mine optimally to avoid cracks in the stones.

Malawi’s 2023 annual economic report indicates that in 2022, the country recorded higher gemstone production amounting to 329.45 tonnes reflecting an increase of over 2000 percent compared to the production in 2021.

Gemstones produced included aquamarine, amethyst, citrine, garnet, rhodolite and ruby. The report, nonetheless, says that despite high gemstone production, value addition is still very low such that potential revenues are lost as gemstones fetch lower prices in their rough (unprocessed) form.

“Investment in value addition would generate significant income, provide employment opportunities, and create business opportunities in jewelry production and selling,” reads the report.

Malawi has one of the most diverse ranges of coloured gemstones in the SADC region. Most gemstones are mined locally by artisanal or small-scale miners, whereas some are introduced into the market through international trade, especially from neighbouring countries such as Zambia and Tanzania.

Globe Metals and Mining Limited has announced that it plans to produce high-grade Niobium and Tantalum products in Malawi at a Lilongwe-based refinery, and is in discussion with the Government of Malawi regarding the financial incentives and location for the new plant.

The announcement by Globe meets Malawians’ long-expressed wishes for local value-addition, instead of seeing the country’s mineral resources routinely exported overseas to be transformed into high-value saleable products.

By producing Niobium and Tantalum oxides within Malawi for export to world markets, the Kanyika Mine will add significantly to the country’s foreign exchange earnings, boosting the Balance of Payments account and raising the National GDP.

The move by Globe follows extensive research and test-work over the past many months, reviewing and fine-tuning refining technologies to optimise engineering designs for the mining and concentrate recovery processes which are aimed at maximising value from the Kanyika orebody.

By changing the refining technology to a benign process based on the use of chlorine – which is environmentally sustainable and cost-effective – Globe will be able to produce high purity products that attract premium prices from international buyers in the speciality metals markets.

The benign chlorination technology was perfected by Globe’s research partners, and its use in Malawi to produce high-purity metal oxides will replace the original plan for Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) recovery process at a refinery to be located in the UAE.

(Note: Hydrofluoric acid is extremely poisonous and corrosive, and is fatal if inhaled or swallowed- it requires extensive neutralisation before wastes may be safely disposed.)

Globe’s engineering design has focused on optimisation of the milling and concentration circuits, with greater efficiencies and recovery rates achieved through innovative improvements to the milling and flotation circuits. One example is the reduction of reagents in the revised flotation suite from the initial 12 to only 4 reagents required.                          (Reagents are special chemicals used in the recovery flotation process, and represent a significant cost as they are not available in Malawi and must be imported.)

The refinery process available to Kanyika’s production also allows for the recovery of materials other than Niobium/Tantalum, and offers Globe wider opportunities that include refining for mining operations in Malawi and in neighbouring states.

Current projections for the Mine envisage an initial Phase 1 lasting 3 years, requiring US$29 million capital expenditure and producing 1,760 tons per year of concentrate. Kanyika’s concentrate will be transported to the planned refinery in Lilongwe where high-grade oxides will be produced. Annual turnover in Phase 1 is estimated at US$20m. 

The Mine will ramp-up after the 3-year Phase 1, expanding capacity during Phase 2 to 1.5 million tons-per-year (mtpa), and producing 17.7 k/tpa of concentrate for the planned Lilongwe refinery. Annual turnover in Phase 2 is estimated at US$205m, and the life of the Kanyika Mine will be extended by three years – effectively until around 2050 – as a result of the Phase 1 interlude.

Globe is currently pursuing funding for this project and has in recent months attended investor conferences in South Africa and Australia. Once the funding is in place, construction at the Kanyika mine site will begin.

Niobium has many applications in the New Economy Aerospace, and Niobium alloys NiNb and Vacuum Grade are used in aerospace and defence industries due to their high strength, low density, and resistance to temperature extremes.

Niobium is also used in the Nuclear industry due to its high-temperature absorption, strength and resistance to corrosion. It is used in reactor components, fuel elements and surface acoustic wave devices. Thermo-Power Niobium is used in Ultra Temperature Thermal Power, due to high-temperature and corrosion resistance, also in high temperature pipes.

Super Conductor Niobium metal is used as superconductors in particle accelerators, such as the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland (CERN is the acronym for the French “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire“, or European Council for Nuclear Research.)

EV Batteries: As the green energy transition gathers pace, Niobium’s use in electric vehicle batteries has the potential to decrease charging times, increase range, improve battery life and maximise performance. Niobium oxide makes batteries greener, cheaper and cleaner.

Niobium oxide increases the energy density of batteries by ultra-fast charging, and Niobium oxide batteries are more stable because of their ability to withstand extremely high temperatures. Toshiba’s Niobium Titanium Oxide (NTO)-SCIB battery provides a range of up to 320km, reaches 90% charged capacity after six minutes, and fast charges to 80% capacity after 25,000 charging cycles. At lower operating temperatures Niobium oxide batteries can be fully charged in less than 10 minutes – versus 6 hours for conventional EV batteries.

Niobium oxide is used for specialised ophthalmic lenses, because it combines the advantages of high refractive index and relatively low value of specific gravity for a glass. Additionally, 65% of Niobium is used in ferro-niobium’s production of High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) steel.

Globe is well pleased with the outcome of the research and design work carried out by specialist scientists in laboratories in South Africa. With such highly satisfactory results, the Kanyika Mine is now on a secure and financially viable track and promises to deliver benefits over many years both to the Malawi nation and to the investors in the project, all of whom have waited patiently for a long time to arrive at this exciting and positive point.  

The small-scale mining craze that has hit areas around Milepa Trading Centre in Chiradzulu and nearby surrounding places of Zomba and Mulanje, is resulting in sound financial earnings for members of the local population, which is transforming their lives.

Mining & Trade Review tour of the areas revealed that scores of the residents have started businesses like make-shift restaurants and liquor shops, motorcycle taxis, and selling second hand clothes targeting the miners and gold buyers.

Said a Kabaza operator Ladmen Kamfose: “My life and that of my family has drastically improved since the gold was found around here, sometime around November last year. My motorcycle [Kabanza] taxi has made me lots of profits than before.”

“Around November and December, at the peak of mining, we [motorcycle operators] used to make a net profit of between K20,000 to K25,000 per day implying we could even compete with some minibus operators in terms of daily profits.”

Kamfose, however, said the earnings are now dwindling because a lot of miners who flocked to the area are relocating to other places in nearby Phalombe District, where it is deemed there is also plenty of gold.

“Just like my colleague here is saying, this mining venture, though informal, has made businesses boom in this area. People are no longer the same, they have money. How I wish government formalized the mining and helped out to prospect for more gold, which we believe is plenty around these areas. Indeed, local peoples’ lives would drastically improve,” Said Yamikani Maduka, Chair for the Mining Initiative in the area.

He also concurred with Kamfose that the coming of the gold mining initiative in the area has extremely helped masses of people to survive the serious food shortage in the area.

Maduka said mining has made existing businesses boom, new ones being established, and lots of locals finding part time jobs that are helping them to ably buy food and other needs.

With the mining of gold, vendors, who previously mainly traded in reputable markets in Chiradzulu, Zomba, Mulanje and Phalombe, have now become residents of Milepa, selling their wares.

According to chair of the Milepa Business Fraternity, Mc Mrazio Mandawala, businesses that have seen a remarkable revenue boom are shabeens, resthouses, bars, fish vending, butcheries, and many other informal businesses.

During the visit to the mining sites, Mining & Trade Review also observed that there are many sex workers in the area, alcoholism and threat of marriage breakages due to men using money earned from mining activities to entice women.

The Lilongwe City Council has advised burnt brick moulders in the city to migrate to moulding cement blocks in order to conserve the city’s environment.

Lilongwe city council’s director of Parks, Recreation and Environment Allan Kwanjana told Mining & Trade Review in an interview that the government with the spirit of protecting the environment from the destruction caused by the process of molding and burning bricks is taking an important direction that those involved in this destructive practice should be taxed heavily to eventually drive them out of the business.

Kwanjana explained that there is a lot of sand in the shores of Lake Malawi and along some big rivers in Malawi which if used technologically can be developed to come up with cement blocks which can be used for construction instead of burnt bricks.

He also said that the government is doing everything necessary to encourage the cement brick business and also encouraging investors to invest in new technologies that will come up with building materials which are environmental friendly.

Kwanjana said the Council is contemplating “developing guiding policies with legislative tools to enforce environmental friendly practices to gradually stop this way of creating building materials.”

He also said that those who are involved in the burnt bricks business should be required to restore the land they have destroyed by burying the pits they create and plant vegetation and tree.

Kwanjana also pointed that the move to stop the practice of molding and burning bricks will affect both the manufactures of the burnt bricks and the users economically.

But brick moulders in the City have put their foot down insisting that they will continue their trade despite government’s pressure to stop the business.

Charles Jumbe, a brick moulder who does business in Chiudzira Township in the City, told Mining & Trade Review that without the government empowering them with seed capital to upgrade into the cement blocks business, they cannot leave the business of moulding and burning bricks.

Jumbe said for one to venture into cement block production, there is need for huge capital injection to purchase raw materials such as cement and quarry dust.

“The business of burnt bricks puts food on my table and pays my utility bills and for me to venture into cement block business I need to generate at least some millions of Kwacha which I cannot afford,” said Jumbe.

He called on government to engage financial institutions to ease conditions for the brick moulders to acquire loans so that they have the capacity to start the cement block production business.

Another brick moulder based in Nathenje, Bright Mkuche said he cannot stop the business because it is his only way of survival.

“Cement blocks are for those who have got cash and most of us, Malawians, in brick business are poor hence cannot afford to venture into this very expensive venture,” Mkuche said.

Small-scale miners in the newly discovered gold mining hotspots in Southern Malawi are encountering a myriad of challenges including lack of training on sustainable mining practices and utilisation of primitive mining equipment, which are negatively impacting on their production and causing serious environment degradation in the mining sites.

Mining & Trade Review visited Milepa in Chiradzulu, and other near-by hotspots of Zomba and Mulanje along the Namadzi River including in Moleni and Chikomwe Villages in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mbiza area in Zomba, and Mgunda Village in T/A Mpama in Chiradzulu – along the Mwaye river, which is a tributary of the Namadzi River.

 “Just look around this whole mining area, people are using picks and shovels and relying solely on guess work to decide where to excavate. Had it been that they had gold detectors they would easily spot the right places to extract gold and so too if they had mechanized digging equipment, they would save time and reap big,” said Yamikani Maduka, chair of the grouping of small scale miners in the area in an interview at the Moleni site.

He, just like others interviewed, called for support from the Malawi Government to overcome their problems and scale up production from the area, which is producing gold of good quality.

Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM) activities in these areas started in November last year and have attracted people from different areas including foreigners who are renting portions of plots to conduct mining activities from traditional land owners.

“We rent a portion of land measuring 1 by 4 metres at K140,000, and because we do not have gold detectors, it is a gamble as we may not get the intended return. Mostly I have 25 to 30 people doing the digging for me, and I pay them K2,500 per day. I also pay some people engaged in earth moving  K2,000 per each, and provide food for them daily, it is quite an expensive venture,” said Honest Chitimbe, a Mozambican our reporter interviewed at the site.

He said a network of friends alerted him of the gold potential in the Milepa area, and he risked the odds to come and embark on the venture.

“We sell the few grams of gold we find to buyers who come here, who in turn sell to Export Development Fund, and other buyers they know,” said Chitimbe.

Another ASM Damson Chimphamba said they sell their gold to buyers at K100,000 per gram; and can acquire between 8 to 12 grams from the portions they buy at K140,000.

“If we have proper expert advice and machinery, especially detecting and digging ones, we would obviously make more profits, hence improve our livelihoods. I have two portions measuring 2 by 2 metres, I have since made a loss on one, and a profit on another,” he said, urging government to come in to equip the locals with necessary mining technologies.

Black Gondwe, a miner and buyer of gold, said the gold deposits in the area would have improved the welfare of the locals if proper machinery was available.

Gondwe said: “For instance, in our case, we employ diggers, buy gold from local miners, and sell to EDF. We buy the gold at K100,000 per gram, but considering that there is no proper equipment, the job of finding right volumes of gold, is cumbersome.”

“Of course I am one of the few people who use machinery [compressor and water pump] to process the gold grains. However, using primitive equipment for excavation is hard, and it is why we need machinery,” said Gondwe.

The Malawi Government is, currently, formalising small scale miners in the country into cooperatives so that the ASMs should be easily identified, licensed and provided with technical and business training, and financial opportunities whenever it is feasible.

While most new university graduates in mining related courses are hopping from one office to another in search of employment, one John Vasco Chidule, aged 27, thought otherwise. Wearing the accolade of a professional Geologist with a degree in Earth Sciences obtained in the year 2022 from the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), he decided to brave the world and become an entrepreneur.

His passion for rocks made him amplify his determination to go more than just acquiring academic papers from MUST, where he studied from 2017 to 2021.

The resolute young man decided to form his own company that he christened Zozodo Gemstone Consultancy and Mining Limited (ZGC), headquartered in Mzimba district.

“I actually registered this company in the year 2019, even before I graduated from MUST. This was because of my passion for geology and mining, and the quest to become an investor in this field; I felt the academic acumen I was getting, was more beef to steer me into becoming an investor,” he said in an interview.

The young and currently unmarried Chidule ignited his pursuit for practical geology and mining when during his early college days – whilst in his second year – he started to enjoy more field than class work.

“As part of this, culminated by my enjoyment of exploration of the surroundings per the nature of the degree program, I managed to have in my hostel room, a great mineral and rocks collection, which I used to study every day,” said Vasco, adding that this became a vessel of achieving his dream of pursuing the geological field realities, other than the trend of many, who become addicted to theory which mostly leads to the mentality of being an “employed material”.

As CEO of his own ZGC, he feels great that his passion has led to the fulfilment of his dream, while agitating for more.

He articulated: “During holidays, I used to have my own surveys around the mining places in Mzimba. I learnt more on how these minerals were identified locally, that is, by the use of trees as path finders and other features, which was never taught in class.”

“I also leant the tricks of how local miners traded the minerals; that is at what prices these minerals were being sold, after being mined by the smallholder miners. The prices were so motivating, and more so ignited my desire of becoming a self-employed investor.”

He said he, therefore, mapped up his future strategy by starting to look at his university degree program course with a business angle, wearing the commercial grasses on each aspect of minerals.

Whilst in the process, his new spectacle of geology and mining, made him also work hard in class, which saw him getting good grades for his qualification. This tied well with his earlier secondary school career ambitions of becoming a geologist.

“In secondary school I fell in love with Geography, after being tipped that such a subject was my passport towards becoming a geologist. No wonder my first choice for a university course was Earth Sciences [Geology], and was too excited when I was selected to MUST, just to do the same,” he re-counted.

Being motivated by the practical exposure and investment quest, Vasco was propelled to study even harder, and more on the practical aspect of the course.

This was evidenced by his brilliant and excellent prowess in class during his first and second year, up to the third one, when he always scored credit passes, putting him on the summit of the geology class.

“Some were surprised with my good understanding of the rocks, but they did not know what I was doing back home during holidays,” he articulated.

But, his academic journey and mission for becoming an investor was not without challenges.

“Despite the said academic strong points, weak points came my way just like fellow students. There were no labs to support the Geology course for the analysis of minerals and rocks at the institution during our time. This limited my knowledge on the minerals and rocks; which, unfortunately, was my priority,” he said.

Secondly, he cited the lack of well-trained practical lecturers – with a deeper understanding of field work, than theory. This, he said, resulted in the baking of many geological students to be more of ‘class or office experts’ than fully fledged geologists.

“Lastly, personal financial crisis, led to my prioritising minerals trading business, rather than being in class learning. This obviously affected my performance; this is because every weekend I was out of the school campus to the field, to buy minerals and sell in Lilongwe, so as to support myself and my siblings back home,” he explained.

But the challenges solidified the ambition of investing in the field.

Deep into minerals trading, he realized there were lots of gaps and challenges that small-scale miners were experiencing.

Vasco said: “I saw the extreme poverty among small scale miners. That solidified my ambitions of becoming an investor, hence the formation of the company in 2019.”

“The idea emanated from the vision of having a company that should focus on mining of precious minerals only. After putting the idea on paper, though, challenges encountered by all small-scale miners came in, but determination made me to struggle on, to make it a company.”

“This company is also aimed at assisting small scale miners with profitable markets, teach miners on good and productive methods of mining; while supporting them with modern knowledge that will transform their life standards.”

He said his business entity intends to be an example of proving that small-scale mining is beneficial, not only to those involved, but also the nation at large, by helping enhance its economy.

Currently the company has employed 25 people, of which 20 are at the mine site –  who are unskilled labour – and  five are doing office work as skilled labour force, who are graduates of MUST and the Malawi University of Business and Applied Science (MUBAS).

“So, in simple terms, we are an entity that blends skilled experts and unskilled labour, but all committed to make a difference,” said Vasco, adding that his motive is also to prove that fresh graduates can make a difference when there is enthusiasm, and a conducive climate towards such investments.

He bemoaned the tendency of most mining graduates of moving out of Malawi for greener pastures saying there are opportunities within the country.

Vasco, however, admitted that challenges exist within the industry for mining graduates, mostly due to the zero sector development and prioritization by the Government of Malawi.

“Mining is one of the most beneficial economic sectors in various countries, but the case is different in Malawi. This has led to less development and improper support of the sector, hence there are no job opportunities for mining graduates. Also, there are no huge loan opportunities for fresh graduates, with zero collateral,” said Vasco.

He however advised the said graduates to soldier on, whilst ensuring their vision to promote this industry is realized. This, he said, would help grow the economy of Malawi.

Vasco’s company has got a district exploration licence, with the mandate to explore for gemstones in Mzimba, and also a mining licence.

“Among the gemstone minerals the company has explored, only bulk minerals have been selected to be mined, due to their profitability and affordability, to mine. Some of these bulk minerals found are: rose quartz, clear quartz, mica, beryllium and yellow stone.

With no mining history, Malawi had a serious shortage of professionals in this blossoming sector. However, this is now history thanks to the intervention of the Malawi University of Science and Technology [MUST] which is complimenting other universities such as Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences and University of Malawi in moulding professionals for the sector.

In an exclusive interview with Mining & Trade Review, Lecturer in Earth Sciences at MUST Ellasy Gulule Chimimba said the existing cordial relation between their training institution and the industry offers hope that graduates from the institution will continue to be relevant to the industry and the nation.

She explained that the relationship between the institution and the mining industry is one of collaboration and mutual benefit.

Said Chimimba: “As MUST, we recognise the importance of bridging academia and practice to address the changing demands of the mining sector. We constantly interact with the industry and government institutions in the industry to give guest lectures at MUST, collaborate in research projects, and place students in work integrated learning to gain industry experience.”

“There are many stakeholders who play a very crucial role in accommodating our students as part of their industrial attachments. This has greatly helped our students to gain professional experience in various fields,” said Chimimba, hailing the existing cooperation, which she said has ably helped yield a positive impact of MUST to the industry.

The stakeholders that MUST collaborate with include the Geological Survey and Mines Departments, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority, National Oil Company of Malawi, Mota Engil, and World Vision. These stakeholders have also played a key role in assisting in the development of the various curricula at MUST.

MUST’s programs on geology and mining include Bachelor of Science Degree in Earth Sciences that started in 2015, BSc in Geographic Information and Earth Observation Science that started in 2016 and BSc in Petroleum Geo-science (oil and gas).  

“So we do much in exploration geology, hydro-geology (water), remote sensing (with drone academy as part of it), and Petroleum,” she said.

Chimimba added that the degree in Earth Sciences (Geology) aims to produce geologists who understand geological processes; formation, exploration, and exploitation of mineral resources; environmental and social issues in governing mineral resources; business management and entrepreneurship; and who can apply gained skills and knowledge in solving problems related to geo-sciences and mining.

She, however, cited resource constraints as one of the major challenges especially in undertaking research in critical areas including development of curriculum for postgraduate programs.

“But we are slowly enhancing our capacity by prioritising our resources. In addition, MUST has a new strategic plan that is focusing on diversifying the university’s income sources through research, innovations and commercialization. For instance, we are producing some products such as maize flour, that are on the market – all aimed at complementing the available resources,” explained Chimimba, adding that MUST graduates can ably be  utilized by the industry through a combination of enhanced skills development, industry exposure, and collaborative partnerships.  

“We get continuous feedback and industry collaborations to ensure that our graduates are being utilized to their full potential, and that any gaps in their preparation for the workforce are promptly addressed,” she said, adding that through the Jobs4Youth Project that was funded by African Development Bank, MUST trained youths in small scale mining and gemstone value addition.

“In addition, the petroleum geosciences section within the earth sciences hired a consultant who performed the due diligence on the petroleum exploration and drilling data for an investment project for Press Trust. The exercise was a success, and an investment decision was adopted,” she said.

Government introduced mining related courses in the universities several years ago under the World Bank funded Mining Governance and Growth Support Project; but despite the courses producing the graduates, creation of jobs for the graduates has been a challenge.

Coordinator for Chamber of Mines and Energy Grain Malunga told Mining & Trade Review that “Government is delaying in concluding Mining Development Agreements (MDAs) with resource firms thereby delaying job creation.”

He, therefore, said despite that the courses in the selected universities and colleges are relevant to the industry, there is limited internship opportunities due to lack of relevant operating mines as a result of the delays in signing the MDAs.