The Office of the Mining Commissioner has been requested to provide all Exclusive Prospecting Licences (EPLs) issued for lithium exploration in the Dâures constituency.
The Director of Mines in the Mines and Energy Ministry, Isabella Chirchir, and her team appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources after allegations of illegal mining undertaken by Xinfeng resurfaced.
Further allegations are that the ministry issued EPLs to established companies, among them Xinfeng, while such EPLs were already issued to smaller-scale farmers or individuals.
"We actually do not know if it is exploration or mining; we actually only heard their side. The committee is therefore obliged to finalise this report for Parliament to give each stakeholder an opportunity to respond to those allegations and accusations," explained Committee Chairperson Tjekero Tweya.
Tweya, therefore, wanted to know, particularly for the Daures constituency, whom the ministry has issued EPLs, when such EPLs were issued, and when their expiry date is.
On the question of allegations that the ministry issued EPLs to larger mining companies while such EPLs were already issued to small-scale miners, the director from the ministry informed the committee that the small-scale farmers were not issued with EPLs and that they were undertaking mining illegally.
It was Chirchir who informed the lawmakers that the ministry, prior to being informed by the chief of the Traditional Authority, did not have a clear indication of the border and where the Daures constituency starts.
"I have a list of all the mining claims that are active, all the mining clips that are only applications, and I have a list that will tell you this licence is issued in a person's name or in a company's name, the type of licence, the status saying it is active, or it is an application, and the area size."
At the start of this year, Minister of Mines and Energy Tom Alweendo said that Long Fire Investments, which works together with Xingfeng, was awarded mining claims in the Daures constituency procedurally and in compliance with the Mining Act.