An official of the ministry, Ms Nuru Shabani, sounded the warning here during a training for small-scale and artisanal miners on the newly introduced Online Mining Cadastre Transactional Portal (OMCTP).

 

“It is illegal for children to be listed as shareholders; licence holders who will be found to provide false information by registering children as shareholders will face the wrath of the law,” the official declared.

 

She explained further that only the Ministry of Energy and Minerals was mandated to issue all mining licences in Tanzania.Ms Shabani made the explanation after participants at the training inquired whether other government institutions had the mandate to issue the permits.

 

“There are some institutions which have been interrupting the exercise of issuing the licences but it should be noted that it is only the ministry that can do so,” she explained. She went on to urge valid license holders to contact zonal mining offices when they encounter challenges in their areas of operation.

 

“Small-scale and artisanal miners as well as officials at village and district levels ought to clearly understand the Mining Act of 2010 to avoid conflicts in mining operations,” she stated. The training in Singida is a series of seminars by the ministry to engage small-scale and artisanal miners countrywide to improve transparency in the mining sector

Source : DAILY NEWS