at the Rosh Pinah mine. Employment In 2019, the mining industry paid over 300 million dollars in wages and salaries and provided 16,324 direct jobs with 9,027 permanent employees. Temporary jobs figured out 800, while 6,515 were contractor jobs. In February 2020, mining operations were suspended at Tschudi because the oxide ore body was depleted, provocating the loss of 66 direct contractor jobs. For the same cause, mining operations ceased at Skorpion Zinc, and the mine closed due to safety concerns. Around 1,500 jobs were lost. Depending on economic up and downswings, mining provided for around 6,000 to 8,000 direct jobs between 2007 and 2014. The artisans for the industry are educated in the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) in Arandis, Keetmanshoop, and Tsumeb, as well as at University of Namibia (UNAM)'s Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology in Ongwediva. Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST)'s Faculty of Engineering in Windhoek also provides mining education. Structure of the mineral industry The Government encourages private sector exploration and development according to guidelines set out in its 2003 paper entitled "The Mineral Policy of Namibia". The Ministry of Mines and Energy and its Diamond Affairs, Energy, and Mining Directorates regulate Namibia’s mining and petroleum industries, and the Ministry concerns itself with the provision of national exploration and mining databases and competitive exploration and mining policy and regulations. The Ministry of Trade and Industry is responsible for regulating manufacturing activity, which includes mineral beneficiation, the production of cement, and the processing of semiprecious stones; the Ministry also promotes resource-based development. Epangelo Mining is a mining company owned by the government. It was founded in 2009 with the aim to govern the rights on six mineral resources that are deemed strategic for Namibia, and for which new exploration rights must be held by government. The six resources are: diamonds, gold, coal, uranium, copper, and rare earth minerals. The larger mining operations in Namibia tended to be funded and operated by domestic and international investors. Numerous local operations were involved in smaller-scale industrial mineral production, especially the semiprecious gemstone sector. Commodities Cement Cement had been imported since the closure of the Otjiwarongo factory of African Portland Cement several years ago. Holcim (Namibia) (Pty.) Ltd., which was owned by Holcim S.A. of Switzerland, 54%, and the Aveng Group of South Africa, 46% (and known as Alpha Cement prior to 2004), imported about 25,000