By Majirata Latela
The ministry of mining is working on opening up diamond mining to (licensed) smallholder miners in a bid to enable Lesotho to finally realise socio- economic growth from the country’s mineral resources.
The minister of mining, Serialong Qoo, today told a local media outlet that the government will charge four percent tax on the sale of diamonds that will be auctioned by people who already possess them.
Qoo indicated that the auctioning of diamonds before officially licencing small holder miners is aimed at cleaning the industry.
The commissioner of mines Pheello Tjatja told theReporter last month that the ministry hopes that by January 2021 the first batch of small scale miners will commence work and will be given licences to operate in one area for a period of a year.
“Before offering those small scale mining licences, the ministry will do an exemption, whereby there will be a law that will allow people who are already in possession of diamonds to auction them so that we clean the system and start on a clean slate,”
