Mining
Women, youths dominate ASM operations – MAMICO survey
October 08, 2025 / Wahard Betha
Kalindekafe: We want to empower the youth
A survey conducted by Malawi Mining Investment Company (MAMICO) has established that 78 percent of Artisanal Small-scale Miners (ASMs) across the country are women and youths.
In an interview with Mining and Trade Review, CEO Leonard Kalindekafe said the survey shows that women make up to 30% while the youth stand at 48% of ASM population. Kalindekafe said he is impressed with the results explaining that it signifies that women and youths are most honest and contenders in mining activities.
He said: “For me, the nice thing is that women are much involved in running household chores. Therefore, if we help women and youth earn adequate money through ASM operations, they will be able run their families as well as building their future respectively”
“One of the pillars of MAMICO is to empower the youth in innovation, train then in entrepreneurship and in anything that could impact the sector.”
Kalindekafe also said as the mining sector is growing in the country there is a need to have more local skilled and experienced people in the industry.
“For example, we always import mining economists or engineers but if we train them, we can source them locally,” he said.
Coordinator for Chamber of Mines and Energy Grain Malunga commented in a separate interview that it is not surprising to see women and youth dominating the sector understanding that the nature of the sector does not require heavy machinery.
Malunga called for decentralization saying it is the only effective way that ASMs can be supported in the country. He said: “To promote that sector, we need to engage at very low level not at ministerial level. This is why I always say that decentralization through the Councils should be able to benefit the households.
” Meanwhile, the ASMs sector is facing challenges including rapid decline of the prices of gold and gemstones at the Export Development Fund (EDF), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Malawi which offers a structured market for the products.
Miners say the drop in buying prices, linked to the Malawi kwacha exchange rate to the United States Dollar, deprives them of their profits.
The other problem for the ASMs is lack financial assistance to purchase machinery to be able to access deeper gold seams which results in little amount of gold mined.
As a strategic vehicle for unlocking Malawi’s untapped mineral wealth, MAMICO is committed to fostering private-sector partnerships, driving local beneficiation and value addition, encouraging indigenous Malawian participation in mineral resource development, and accelerating economic transformation in alignment with Malawi 2063 (MW2063).
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Rehabilitation:
The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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Remediation:
The cleanup of the contaminated area to safe levels by removing or isolating contaminants. At mine sites, remediation often consists of isolating contaminated material in pre-existing tailings storage facilities, capping tailings and waste rock stockpiles with clean topsoil, and collecting and treating any contaminated mine water if necessary.
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