A NATIONAL minerals policy is currently being developed to look at all the country's mineral wealth and the mechanisms to develop these resources.
It is expected that with the formulation of the policy there will be a single official document outlining government's approach to the development of the minerals sector.
In an interview with JIS News, Oral Rainford, Director of the Ministry of Land and Environ-ment's Mine Monitoring Unit, explained that the projected development of the sector would encompass all areas such as research and development, mineral processing, manufacturing, marketing, mining, resource management, monitoring the various laws that govern the industry.
SINGLE UNITS
Additionally, he said the mineral industry was to be viewed as a single unit. In this case, there should be no differentiation between mines, quarries and their related processing operations. They will, collectively, be termed mineral operations. They impact on the environment in similar ways and given the necessary enabling mechanisms could all contribute meaningfully to economic growth, explained Mr. Rainford.
He said this approach allowed for better regulation and management of the industry and was in keeping with global trends.
Another major issue to be dealt with by the policy is the push to develop value added products, which could earn more for the country by substituting for items that are currently imported and providing more highly valued export.
Giving an example of a value added product, the director stated that locally, mined gold could be used to make special coins or other items, while specific types of limestone could be used to make grout, thin set or ceramic tiles and high quality limestone may be used in the manufacturing of points, precipitated calcium carbonate, industrial lime, paper and many other products.
Mr. Rainford pointed out that in promoting value added products, the Ministry and its partners would also seek to strengthen research and development capabilities, as this mean "we will be able to bring to the market higher quality products and be able to get better prices for our minerals and the products emanating from them".
The policy will also seek to put in place provisions to ensure the development of the necessary human capital and technical skills for the sector to progress.
Those skills, which are vital to the sector's development, include processing technology, marketing, mining, engineering and mine management, among others.
Another issue to be covered is the need to ensure that mining is complementary to other forms of economic development including tourism and construction while mitigating negative environmental effects.
The policy document is currently being prepared by the Ministry of Land and Environment, through the National Minerals Policy Development Committee.
"This committee," Mr. Rainford explained, "is a broad-based entity incorporating the views of a wide range of private and public sector entities involved in and having an interest in mining."
