Plumtree Town (Mining and Mineral Panning) By-laws, 2025
Plumtree brings mining under council control — licences and EIA papers must be lodged, alluvial work kept off stream banks and backfilled — but every fee and penalty in the schedules is printed as nil.
These by-laws put mining and mineral panning in the Plumtree Town Council area under council oversight. Holders of prospecting, exploration and mining rights must submit certified copies of their licences to the council along 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 carry out rehabilitation works itself, address corporate social responsibility, and provide for inspection of mining activities. Alluvial gold work is confined to the bed of a public stream and kept clear of its banks, undercutting of workings is prohibited, 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.
As published, none of it carries a price. Every entry in the fee schedule — council land development levies across all mining classes, EIA consultation and report inspection, the environmental rehabilitation levy and the rehabilitation fund levy — is printed as US$0,00, and so is every penalty, including panning without a council permit, failing to submit licences or EIA documents, starting operations before lodging them, and failing to rehabilitate a disused or abandoned mine. Penalties are stated to be payable in local currency at the interbank rate, exclusive of VAT.
By contrast the Shurugwi by-laws of the same season charge up to US$15 000 a year for large scale gold mining and US$5 000 for failing to rehabilitate.
What changed
- Mining rights holders must lodge licences and EIA documents with the council
- Alluvial gold work confined to stream beds and clear of banks, with backfilling as work progresses
- Undercutting of workings prohibited and elution plants require a permit
- An Environmental Reclamation Fund is established and the council may rehabilitate and recover costs
- Every fee and penalty in the schedules is printed as US$0,00 as published
Who this affects
- Miners and panners in the Plumtree town area
- Millers and elution plant operators
- Project developers requiring EIAs
- Council environmental and revenue officers
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.