News / National
Zimbabwe mulls probe into drop in gold output
02 Jun 2024 at 04:04hrs | Views
The government is considering investigating the small-scale gold mining sector to determine the factors behind the recent decline in deliveries, amid fears of increased smuggling. Gold production from small-scale miners has dropped from an average of 60 percent of the national output to between 42 and 53 percent.
This year, the government set a gold deliveries target of 40 tonnes, up from the 30.1 tonnes achieved last year. Gold is Zimbabwe's largest export earner, followed by platinum and tobacco, with gold and platinum together accounting for more than 50 percent of export earnings. Mining overall constitutes over 75 percent of the country's exports.
Gold smuggling deprives the government and the country of crucial revenue from taxes and royalties, especially when Zimbabwe is poised to benefit from prevailing high international gold prices. The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development continues to explore ways to curb leakages in the gold sector and other areas involving precious minerals like lithium.
Efforts to get a comment from Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) chief executive officer Mr. Wellington Takavarasha were unsuccessful as he did not respond to questions. ZMF president Ms. Henrietta Rushwaya was also unavailable for comment.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando noted at a recent gold mobilization workshop that small-scale miners have been the biggest contributors to gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refineries (FGR) since 2020. However, this trend has reversed, with total deliveries declining by 1.9 percent to 8.4 tonnes between January and April 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. Deliveries by small-scale miners to FGR dropped by 23 percent to 4 tonnes in the first four months of 2024, down from 5.2 tonnes in the same period in 2023. This represents 48 percent of the total gold delivered to FGR, a decrease from the previous 60 percent.
This year, the government set a gold deliveries target of 40 tonnes, up from the 30.1 tonnes achieved last year. Gold is Zimbabwe's largest export earner, followed by platinum and tobacco, with gold and platinum together accounting for more than 50 percent of export earnings. Mining overall constitutes over 75 percent of the country's exports.
Gold smuggling deprives the government and the country of crucial revenue from taxes and royalties, especially when Zimbabwe is poised to benefit from prevailing high international gold prices. The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development continues to explore ways to curb leakages in the gold sector and other areas involving precious minerals like lithium.
Efforts to get a comment from Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) chief executive officer Mr. Wellington Takavarasha were unsuccessful as he did not respond to questions. ZMF president Ms. Henrietta Rushwaya was also unavailable for comment.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando noted at a recent gold mobilization workshop that small-scale miners have been the biggest contributors to gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refineries (FGR) since 2020. However, this trend has reversed, with total deliveries declining by 1.9 percent to 8.4 tonnes between January and April 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. Deliveries by small-scale miners to FGR dropped by 23 percent to 4 tonnes in the first four months of 2024, down from 5.2 tonnes in the same period in 2023. This represents 48 percent of the total gold delivered to FGR, a decrease from the previous 60 percent.
Source - sundaymail
