Mugabe says locals must have half of mines

Mugabe says locals must have half of mines

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• Foreigners key to Zim mine growth - chamber

• Political patronage threatens Zim mines

• Zim clarifies Mugabe mine-grab policy

• Mugabe wants 50pc shares in mines

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• Mugabe gives 49pc mining rights to blacks

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By Stella Mapenzauswa and MacDonald Dzirutwe

ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe said on Thursday that Zimbabweans must take at least half ownership of foreign-owned mining firms, which vowed to step up a campaign against the plan.

"We've decided by way of policy as government that we shall now pursue a policy whereby the government and people will insist on equity of 50-51 percent," Mugabe told a political rally in Harare.

He did not give details of the new policy, which rattled foreign mining companies when it was first announced in March.

"To those who don't want to accept this, we say goodbye and good luck... Leave it, take it, it's up to you," he said.

Zimbabwe's mining minister said in March that the government wanted to take 51 percent stakes in mining firms, including 25 percent without payment.

Analysts say the proposals would slam confidence in the sector, one of the few remaining bright spots in an economy steeped in recession, which has become a top foreign exchange earner after the collapse of agriculture.

In Victoria Falls, mining companies gathered for an annual meeting and pledged to keep trying to convince the goverment to water down the proposals.

"We are looking at intensifying our lobbying for a less radical solution to indigenisation and the other area of concern is that of the threat by government to abolish special mining leases," a Chamber of Mines official told Reuters.

The chamber might revise its own counter-proposal, which it had submitted to the government, he added.

In 2005 the industry recommended a softer empowerment offer, which would have seen local investors take up 20 percent equity in foreign mines within two years, 25 percent in seven years and 30 percent after 10 years.

Mugabe's government is battling a long-running crisis which has seen inflation sailing past 1,000 percent and analysts say this could trigger anti-government protests.

Zimbabwe is home to the world's second richest platinum deposits after South Africa and holds gold, ferrochrome, coal and nickel reserves.

Foreign mining companies with interests in Zimbabwe include Anglo Platinum (Angloplat), the world's biggest platinum producer, number two Impala Platinum (Implats), Aquarius Platinum and mining giant Rio Tinto Plc.

Implats' unit Zimplats said on Thursday that it hopes to announce a deal with the government within a week regarding its long-delayed expansion programme. - Reuters
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