In recent years, the Mozambican government has recovered around 30 kilos of undeclared gold from mining operators in Manica province.

Speaking to AIM, the director of the Manica Provincial Service for Infrastructure, Mineral Resources and Energy, Silva Manuel, said that the figure was the result of the tracking work carried out by the sector to combat the exploitation and smuggling of minerals.

In recent years, according to the source, the amount of gold produced in the province has been increasing, thanks to the declaration of production by mining companies.

But gold is also being mined by hand by individuals, some of whom are foreigners, mainly Zimbabweans. Part of the production is sold outside the normal mineral sales circuit.

Tracking is making it possible to recover quantities of undeclared gold, which could increase the state's revenue.

"Operators are already declaring the amount of gold produced. They are doing this because they know that, even if they don't declare it, they will be discovered by the tracking work the government has been doing. It's a job that is yielding good results," said Manuel.

As a result of this work, declared gold production increased from 400.03 kilos in 2022 to 759.13 kilos in 2023.

"Last year we had the highest production ever and this year the province is expected to produce more than 800 kilos of gold," Manuel added.

"Despite the work being done by the sector, collaboration between the population and operators is necessary to put an end to the illegal exploitation and sale of minerals in Manica," he said.

"We want to invest in order to continue working on the ground. But this requires adequate means for the technical staff to be at the mining site. At the moment, we're only doing two or three surveys a month."

It should be noted that mining is carried out industrially by duly licensed companies. But data from the sector indicates that more than ten thousand artisanal miners, both Mozambican and foreign, are extracting gold in Manica. (Source: AIM)