Mining industry of Eswatini
Open-knowledge reference entry
The mining industry of Eswatini vests with the Ngwenyama (the king) who authorizes mineral rights after due consultation with the Minerals Committee, which he appoints. Fiscal contribution from mining operations to Eswatini's GDP is 2% and also accounts for 2% of export earnings.
History
The history of the mining sector of the country is ancient, traced to the iron ore mine of the western Ngwenya mountains, which has since 1975 been closed. Ngwenya Mine is said to be the oldest iron ore mine in the world, dating back more than 40,000 years. In recent years there is resurgence of this sector. In December 2023, the Geological Survey of Eswatini began the second phase of a geoscience mapping initiative in cooperation with South Africa's Council for Geoscience to improve the location and extraction of mineral resources, in particular iron ore, gold, coal, and aggregate.
Legal framework
The Mining Department is responsible for the mining and minerals industry. Laws promulgated in this respect are the Mines and Minerals Act No, 4 of 2011, Diamond Act No. 3 of 2011, Explosives Act, Mines and machinery regulations, and Mines and Quarries (safety) Regulations. Additional regulations are under review.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mining industry of Eswatini” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.