FULL SPEECH: Gold sector outlook address and strategic interventions

Full speech by the Minister of Mines and Mining Development (MMMD) Hon Winston Chitando at the send-off of the Gold Mobilisation National Taskforce.

It is indeed my distinct pleasure and honour to be at this memorable event as we witness the sending off of our competent men and women into three of our country’s provinces to carry out the 2022 Second Gold Mobilization Exercise.
As you may be aware ladies and gentlemen, the mining sector is expected to play a pivotal role in the attainment of the country’s vision of being an Upper Middle Income Economy by 2030 as enshrined in the National Development Strategy1 (NDS1) (2021-2025). The main minerals that are going to lead growth of the mining sector include gold.
As part of the gold development strategy being pursued by the Ministry, quarterly gold mobilisation programs will push the thrust towards mobilising gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refinery.
Vision 2030 of becoming an Upper Middle-Income economy is anchored on the USD 12 Billion mining industry by 2023 Ministry’s set milestone as espoused in His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde. Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa’s USD 12 billion mining industry roadmap launched in October 2019.
The gold sector in Zimbabwe has proved to be strategic to the mining industry and the national economy at large. Gold has remained one of the major foreign currency earners in Zimbabwe and is expected to contribute USD4 Billion to the USD12 Billion milestone. In this regard, our envisioned output for the gold sector is a sustainable annual gold production of 60 tonnes of gold by 2023.
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, has implored us to work hard towards achieving the vision of an Upper Middle-Income Economy by the year 2030. We can achieve that through ensuring a sustainable gold mining industry given the value we can gain from this mineral.
I am pleased to say that in 2021 Gold delivered to Fidelity Gold Refinery was 29.6 tonnes. This was a marked increase from the 19 tonnes produced in 2020. Looking at the current production in 2022, gold producers have delivered a total of 18.94 tonnes of gold to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) for the period January to July 2022, an increase from last year’s production of 12.78 tonnes during the same period. A marked increase in gold deliveries to FGR was noted from small scale miners for the same period comparing 2021 and 2022, with deliveries of 6.75 tonnes and 12.5 tonnes respectively. That represents a significant increase of 85%.
This is a very positive outlook from the gold sector and gives us confidence that if we maintain the same delivery rates to FGR, then our targets are well in sight.
Despite the increase in gold delivery, it is widely believed by stakeholders that these deliveries fall short of possible gold produced in Zimbabwe during this period due to rampant side marketing, which calls for enhanced compliance enforcement in the sector. The country is rich in gold deposits and we strongly believe our production can reach 60 tonnes by 2023. However, key to realising this target is the plugging of side markets which are a pariah to our efforts in the mining sector and to the development that we hope to see achieved.
To enhance the growth of the gold sector, the following initiatives are being carried out ;

Formalization of ASM Sector
The Establishment of Gold Services Centers
Resuscitation of Closed Mines
Opening New Ground for Pegging
Capacitation of Small-Scale Miners through various initiatives (FGR, ZSM, Development Fund, MILF)
Development and Implementation of the Gold Development Policy
Development of the SI on Portable Hammer Mills

It is a privilege indeed to stand here and address you all, ladies and gentlemen, and to share with you the hopes and vision that we have for the mining sector and the country as a whole. I would like to conclude by emphasising the role that you are playing in conducting this Gold Mobilisation Exercise.
We salute you and we hold the confidence that the exercise will be a fruitful one and you will be back home safely after executing the monitoring and surveillance exercise out there. Please bring back the insights and let us continue to work together to see that we move our country towards an Upper Middle-class Economy by the year 2030.