Mining & Trade News

The Malawi Government says it realised a total of K27.2-million from mineral sample royalties in the 2121/2022 fiscal year.

This is contained in In the 2022/23 annual economic report published by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

The report outlines that exploration companies in Malawi exported 14.3 tonnes of rock chip samples and paid K19.5-million Kwacha in royalties to government.

The resource firms exported 7.8-tonnes of soil samples yielding the Malawi Government K7.7-million tonnes in royalties.

However, the report states that the major mineral exports for the country were gemstones and dimension stones which continued to be exported to a number of countries including India, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, USA, England, Italy, South Africa, Poland, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

In 2022, higher gemstone production was recorded 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. Government, however, expresses concern in the report that despite high gemstone production, value addition is still very low implying 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 jewellery production and selling,” reads the report.

Malawi is endowed with a wide range of mineral resources, some of which have been mined for decades, and some whose potential for beneficiation at medium to large-scale levels is recently being discovered.

Malawi 2063 identifies mining as a key driver to the economic development of the country. Mining is one of the priority areas under the industrialization pillar in the country’s effort to achieve the upper-middle income status by the year 2063.

“Mining has tremendous potential to support industrialization in Malawi, yet it has not been fully harnessed. The sector contributes only one percent to national income,” reads the report.

It says the mineral sector still faces great challenges resulting in the loss of potential public revenues due to unreported income and smuggling, coupled with environmental damage and health hazards due to sub-standard methods of mining and processing.

Further investments in the sector is challenged by a low power supply, a lack of reliable road and railway infrastructure, and other economic constraints. These factors increase overhead and production costs thus deterring investors and undermining the growth of the sector.

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