By Lake Zone Watch Writer
The Office of the Mining Commission Resident Mines Officer in Mara region will, beginning Monday June 3, carry out a two-week exercise to register people interested in seeking fortune in the mining industry.
A statement issued by the Resident Mines Officer in Musoma yesterday said the exercise will cover mainly youth and residents of 11 villages surrounding the giant North Mara Gold Mine on Tarime district.
Villages to benefit from the planned self-employment opportunity are Nyangoto, Mjini Kati, Kewanja, Nyabichune, Kerenge and Matango.
Others are Murito, Nyamwaga, Genkuru, Komarera and Nyankunguru.
The statement said the collected statistics will enable the formation of groups of artisanal miners to be granted with mining licences in areas demarcated for mining activities.
Interested would-be small-scale miners have been directed to register their names with village executive officers within the stipulated two-week period, the statement said.
The move is seen as a calculated measure to empower the majority jobless youth and to end tensions of frequent intrusions of the North Mara Gold Mine by gangs of suspected gold ore thieves.