Shurugwi Town Council (Mining and Mineral Panning) By-laws, 2025
Shurugwi charges miners hard: US$15 000 a year for large scale gold mining, US$10 000 medium scale, US$5 000 for a stamp mill or elution plant, US$2 500 for an EIA consultation — and US$5 000 for leaving a mine unrehabilitated.
These by-laws put mining and mineral panning in the Shurugwi Town Council area under council control. Holders of prospecting, exploration and mining rights must lodge certified copies of their licences with the council together with the EIA report, environmental management plan or EIA certificate from EMA, and must carry out mine closure and rehabilitation measures. The by-laws establish an Environmental Reclamation Fund, allow the council to do rehabilitation works itself and recover the cost, address corporate social responsibility, and provide for inspection of mining activities.
Alluvial gold work must be confined to the bed of a public stream and kept at least three metres from the naturally defined banks, workings deeper than 1,5 metres must be terraced, sloped or supported, undercutting is prohibited, mechanical equipment may not be used in a stream bed without a permit from an inspector of mines, and mined areas must be backfilled as work progresses. An elution plant requires a permit, and every authorised miner pays the council royalties, levies, licences and other approved fees.
The fee schedule is the most detailed of the 2025 mining by-laws. Annual council land development levies are US$15 000 for large scale gold mining, US$10 000 for medium scale, US$5 000 for a stamp mill permit and the same for elution, US$3 000 for mining base minerals, US$2 500 for wash plants, US$2 000 for cyanidation, US$1 500 each for bow and hammer mill permits, US$500 per non-producing gold claim and US$300 per non-producing base mineral block. Artisanal mining is banded: US$1 500 a year for Class A, US$1 000 Class B, US$400 Class C and US$300 Class D. An EIA consultation costs US$2 500 and inspection of EIA reports US$500. The environmental rehabilitation levy runs US$500, US$400, US$300 and US$200 across artisanal Classes A to D.
Penalties are US$5 000 each for starting operations without lodging EIA documents, failing to reclaim disused mines and failing to rehabilitate after abandonment or closure; US$250 for failing to submit EIA documents; and US$100 each for panning without a licence from both the council and the Ministry of Mines and for failing to submit mining licences to the council.
What changed
- Annual council levies of US$15 000 for large scale and US$10 000 for medium scale gold mining
- Artisanal mining banded from US$1 500 (Class A) to US$300 (Class D) a year, with rehabilitation levies of US$500 to US$200
- Stamp mills and elution plants charged US$5 000 a year; cyanidation US$2 000 and wash plants US$2 500
- EIA consultation costs US$2 500 and inspection of EIA reports US$500
- US$5 000 penalties for operating without lodged EIA documents or failing to rehabilitate a mine
Who this affects
- Gold miners and millers in the Shurugwi area
- Artisanal miners and panners across Classes A to D
- Cyanidation, elution and wash plant operators
- Project developers requiring EIAs
- Council revenue and environment departments
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.