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Small-scale gemstone miners in Zambia could be forced out of the sector by a sharp increase in environmental assessment fees, the Emerald and Semi-Precious Stones Mining Association of Zambia (ESMAZ) has warned.
ESMAZ president, Victor Kalesha, said the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) had, under Statutory Instrument No. 3 of 2026, placed small-scale gemstone miners, including emerald miners in Lufwanyama, in a category requiring them to pay K106,666.40 for Environmental Project Briefs.
In a statement issued in Lufwanyama on Monday, Kalesha said the fee represented an increase of more than 527% from the previous K17,000.
“This is a sharp and unjustifiable increase from the previous fee of K17,000 – an increase of over 527%. This move, if not reversed, will cripple operations and threaten the very existence of small-scale miners in Zambia,” Kalesha said.
He said most ESMAZ members were Zambian citizens, cooperatives and youths who could not afford to pay more than K100,000 for ZEMA approval.
“The majority of our members are Zambian citizens, cooperatives and youths who have no capacity to pay over K100,000 just for ZEMA approval,” he said.
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Kalesha also questioned why gemstone miners had not benefited from what he described as a recent reduction in ZEMA fees for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining to between K3,000 and K4,000 to encourage formalisation.
“While ZEMA recently reduced fees for Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining to between K3,000 and K4,000 to encourage formalization, the same relief has not been extended to gemstone miners,” he said.
He said some members seeking to renew their mining licences risked defaulting because they could not afford the cost of obtaining ZEMA clearance.
Kalesha said ESMAZ had written to the ZEMA Director General on September 11, 2026, seeking a review of the statutory instrument and realignment of the fees to between K3,000 and K17,000.
He said the association had also requested a waiver for miners currently undergoing the license renewal process, with September 30, 2026 set as the deadline for the requested action.
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