Mining
Jewish firm refining Malawi’s gold
April 01, 2024 / Wahard Betha
A global conglomerate of Jewish companies of a cross-sector industry portfolio, the Inosselia Group, is the one refining gold which the Malawi Government is purchasing from local artisanal and small scale miners (ASMs) through Export Development Fund (EDF), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), Mining & Trade Review has established.
As a way of expanding its global footprints in both mature and emerging markets across Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Group has its local base in Lilongwe close to Kamuzu International Airport (KIA).
Apart from pursuing agricultural investments including mega farms, Inosselia has set up a well-equipped and standard gold refining facility.
President Lazarus Chakwera recently informed the budget meeting of the National Assembly that the RBM has commenced the process of purifying gold with assaying.
In his address, Chakwera told the house that the process is being done locally with a local gold refining company located at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.
The statement raised eyebrows of some stakeholders including in our social media groups who were interested to know who owns the refinery, why it is located at the airport and also the agreement that the owner has with the Malawi Government.
EDF Manager for Precious Stones and Minerals Elyvin Chawinga explained to Mining & Trade Review in an interview that the refinery is located close to the airport but not within KIA premises.
Chawinga disclosed that EDF chose to purify the gold at the company because no any other company within the country had the capacity of refining gold.
She also said EDF assigns the company on one time off basis and that no agreement was signed between the company and the Malawi Government.
Chawinga said: “The refinery is entirely a private entity and there is no any agreement that is there between government and the company.”
“What we do is that we take the gold in raw form and give them. We inspect the process of refining and we take the product which is in bar form back to Reserve Bank for storage.”
“If another company comes in with a refinery, we are free to choose which one to use at that particular time.”
Since the structured gold market commenced in May 2021, RBM has purchased a total of 187 kilograms of smelted and assayed gold at a total cost of MK19.2 billion, and with a total value of MK22.1 billion.
The gold is currently being held within RBM and undergoing further refining process and casting into gold bars to be part of the official reserves.
Commenting on the concern of why the gold is not being sold due to the foreign exchange challenges the country is experiencing, Chawinga asked for patience from Malawians saying the Reserve Bank governor will decide the opportune time to sell the resource. Chawinga said a decision to sell will be made when gold
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The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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The cleanup of the contaminated area to safe levels by removing or isolating contaminants. At mine sites, remediation often consists of isolating contaminated material in pre-existing tailings storage facilities, capping tailings and waste rock stockpiles with clean topsoil, and collecting and treating any contaminated mine water if necessary.
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