Harare, (New Ziana) –The illegal mining and trading of gold is the major setback to attaining the 2024 annual target of producing 35 tons of the precious metal, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando said this on Monday at the 2024 Second Gold Mobilisation Deployment Workshop in Harare where the Ministry was deploying 13 teams in the eight mining provinces of the country.
Chitando said the mission of the teams is to mobilize gold and ensure compliance of the gold mining sector with the country’s laws.
“Gold has long been a source of wealth and prosperity for Zimbabwe and it holds immense potential to fuel economic growth, create jobs and improve the lives of our people as we move towards vision 2030 of an up middle-income economy.
However, the illegal extraction and trade of gold undermines our effort to achieve these benefits for the people of Zimbabwe,” said Chitando “Leakages deprive the government of much-needed revenue from taxes and royalties and by working together through these initiatives we would want to ensure that every ion of gold which is produced within our borders contributes to the nation.”
He said the demand for gold is on the rise globally because the world has turned to the precious metal for safety and protection from economic and geo-political issues. Chitando said the price of gold has gone up from USD1 500 per Troy Ounce in September last year to USD2 500 this September unlike Platinum, Lithium and other minerals whose prices are subdued.
He said the nation should benefit from the increased price as gold is the major generator of foreign currency in Zimbabwe.
Chitando said the country’s economy is anchored on gold production, hence the need to ensure that all gold is traded through Fidelity Gold Refinery.
“Gold mobilisation exercise has proven to be a successful initiative. Each time when we have these initiatives the feedback and impact on the ground is always positive. At times you feel that we should have this always every other month because the outcome is very positive,” he stated.
In 2023, gold delivered to Fidelity Gold Refinery printers stood at 30.1 tons. Between January to August 2024 the gold delivered to Fidelity is 20.7 tons. In comparison to 2023 for the same period were 19.3 tons, which is a 7.2 percent increase, he explained.
He said in 2024, large-scale miners delivered 8.5 tons of gold to Fidelity Gold Refinery against 7.7 tons for the year 2023, representing a 10.4 percent increase. For small-scale miners, gold delivered to Fidelity has increased from 11.7 tons in 2023 to 12.1 tons this year during the comparable period.
New Ziana
