The new Mining Law will likely have negative impact on foreign investors (i.e. Thai ruby merchants looking to export to the Thai gemstone market). This is because some types of mining titles have been changed to favor Mozambique nationals over foreign-owned or held interests or have been removed altogether, making it more difficult for foreign investors (i.e. merchants) to dominate a certain market (i.e. gemstones).
The new legislation will exert greater State control over the extractive sector, with stronger penalty and criminal consequences for illegal mining activities, whether they take the form of prospecting, exploration, mining, or trading. This will affect artisanal miners, such as those who invaded the Mwiriti concession in order to search for rubies and sell them to the Tanzanian, West African, Thai and Sri Lankan gem merchants waiting nearby, as well as affect those gem merchants and their dealings.
It is recommended that local merchants, foreign and national, are interviewed as the new laws and regulations are implemented so that a better understanding is gained of the evolving Mozambique extractive sector, particularly how it applies to the entire gemstone process, from prospecting to mining to trading.