After completing the Australia Awards Mining Governance in Africa Short Course at The University of Queensland, Ruth Ngumba returned to Zambia to focus on increasing the local value of her country’s minerals.
“My supervisor had attended the same course run by UQ International Development a year before, and he said it was a career-changing experience,” Ruth said.
A module on artisanal and small‑scale mining (ASM) significantly reshaped Ruth’s thinking, particularly through its focus on development minerals.
“I thought learning about mining governance in Africa could assist us as a country [in Zambia] to improve how we approach ASM.”
“We have a lot of people participating in the ASM sector,” said Ruth. “But the government is not really benefiting from the activities that are happening, including the miners themselves.
“I never paid much attention to development minerals. Most people in our country don't. We are mainly thinking about critical minerals and the big mining players. But during a discussion we had in the Short Course about ASM, I realised that we have a high supply of development minerals."
Development minerals are high‑volume, low‑value materials - such as sand, stone, clay, limestone and gravel - used to build homes, roads and local infrastructure.
“We find them almost everywhere, and what's interesting about these minerals is that the supply chain can be consumed locally,” Ruth said.
“Countries would benefit more in terms of employment and structural development if we approached ASM and development minerals the way we should, rather than sidelining them. They are the ones that have potential to grow African economies.”
For Ruth, this reframing was a key takeaway from the course, highlighting the potential of development minerals to support employment, infrastructure and economic growth across Africa if more strategically recognised and supported.
Since completing the course, Ruth has been promoted to a senior mineral value addition role within the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development and has led a pilot program supporting ASM cooperatives to track production and revenue, improve benefit sharing and fund essential safety equipment.
“[During the course] I was able to look at needs that exist in our country, especially in the ASM field,” Ruth said. “That's how I developed an idea of an ASM revenue equalisation fund for developmental minerals."
"One of the aspects that touched me during the course was on the development minerals. Most miners are granted their mining license as cooperatives, but they're working individually and selling individually. In the end, you find they're not really benefiting from what they are doing, and they can't even get bigger projects to supply their minerals to. And on top of that, they are not even submitting the required revenue to the government.”
"The fund would mean all miners will be able to deposit funds into an account. Then, before they share those funds, they can deduct an amount that the government requires. And from the same fund buy personal protective equipment.”
Another element of the course that inspired Ruth, was mentoring.
“Mentoring assisted me a lot on the pilot project,” Ruth said. “I learned how to approach cooperatives, because my mentor had quite some experience with management of cooperatives, which assisted me as I was doing my Return-To-Work plan.”
Australia Awards are development‑focused scholarships funded by the Australian Government, with the Return‑to‑Work Plan linking study to national development goals by showing how scholars will apply their skills after returning home.
Another takeaway from the Short Course that Ruth enjoyed was talking about regional local benefit sharing.
“There was a lecturer who mentioned that sometimes we don't tend to see the benefits of the minerals that we have. They suggested that governments can require mining companies to invest in their countries by building schools, laboratories, or infrastructure instead of providing money, because money can tend to be misused. If you have agreements on benefit sharing where development or infrastructure is set up, that can actually assist.”
“As part of the pilot process, we deliver pre-operational training to miners before they are licensed. In these sessions, we outline the key measures they need to establish within the mining environment.”
Since completing the course, Ruth’s work has also shifted the focus from restricting child labour to providing childcare solutions - such as establishing nursing corners - enabling women’s participation in mining and strengthening inclusive community development.
“We have scenarios where in certain sectors, especially the gold mining sector, sometimes you find women are not allowed there. We want to tackle those problems and assist them in work in a mining setup. Knowing that their children are safe somewhere, that actually is helpful.”
“When we go to the sites, you see clearly - the real challenge is not mining, it is childcare; so we reframed it, and through our ASM PIT Site Chat Book we now promote nursing corners away from the pits, so women can work while their children are safe, cared for, and even learning nearby.”
“One of the lecturers at UQ had mentioned to us that a main challenge that we deal with is childcare rather than child labour. We have a lot of women participating in these mining activities, but we cannot just exclude them and say, because your mothers don't come and mine. We proposed what we are calling nursing corners, which can be situated away from the mining sites, so that the children are not impacted, but they can have a place where they can be left at and maybe schooling can also happen there.”
Ruth plans to continue engaging her supervisors and implementing nursing corners for childcare. She aspires to grow the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Zambia.
"I want to see an artisanal and small-scale mining sector that's thriving, growing and see benefits trickling down to the Zambian miners. I want to put in as much effort as I can to see this happening together with my colleagues."
“The program that UQ International Development is offering is one that I feel it’s something that really changes your approach to things, so I would love to see more people benefiting from this program.”
The Australia Awards Mining Governance in Africa Short Course was funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and designed and delivered by UQ experts Professor Kathryn Sturman and Dr Lynda Lawson from the Sustainable Minerals Institute, with subject matter experts Associate Professor Eric Lilford and Associate Professor Bryan Maybee from Curtin University, and support from Welfare Officer Krishtee Samputh and Program Coordinator Eliana Burbano of UQ International Development.
Sign up to UQ’s Global Development Hub to learn more about programs supporting inclusive, sustainable development worldwide, connecting research, policy and practice to create real-world impact.
Photo credits: supplied.
