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In an effort to develop the country’s former mines to their former glory and unlock Zimbabwe’s underground wealth, Mutapa Gold Resources is implementing a pragmatic and phased strategy for the historic Elvington Mine in Chegutu, transitioning the asset from a site of informal mining activity into a future cornerstone of formal, large-scale production, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Outlining the plan at the Kuvimba Mining House (KMH) press conference, which saw the end of KMH, Mutapa Gold Resources CEO Trevor Barnard detailed a unique transitional model currently in place.
“We’re running on the basis of a contract mining agreement where we’re supporting the artisanal miners that are there at the moment,” Barnard stated.
He said it is an equitable structure between Mutapa, the company responsible for processing, and the artisanal miners.
“All the gold that they’ve produced is then split equitably between ourselves, them, as well as the processor. And that gold all goes through the selling through Fidelity.” This ensures immediate, legal revenue generation for all parties and the state while maintaining order.
According to Barnard, this interim partnership paves the way for a significant long-term investment.
“Our long-term plan with Elvington obviously is to develop that mine to its former production capacity again,” Barnard confirmed. However, this major undertaking is strategically placed within Mutapa Gold’s broader project pipeline.
Barnard clarified the sequence: “Our project pipeline is first of all Shamva. As soon as Shamva is well on the go, then we’ll follow up with the development of Jena. Those two will run to an extent concurrently, and then once those are operational, it’s then to take the next step and develop Elvington to its full extent.”
This phased approach is rooted in the mine’s geology. Barnard noted that while artisanal miners work near the surface, “the main portion of Elvington’s resource is actually sitting underground below where the artisanal miners can actually access. And that’s our focus for the future.”
This move by Mutapa Gold Resources represents an intelligent and necessary evolution in managing complex legacy assets. Historically, Elvington has been a flashpoint, suffering from illegal incursions that led to safety hazards and operational standstills. Previous strategies often veered towards confrontation, attempting to forcibly clear such sites.
Mutapa’s genius lies in its three-stage model:
Formalisation & Stability: The contract mining agreement avoids conflict, formalises informal activity, injects immediate capital into the local economy, and secures Mutapa’s operational control and social licence on the ground.
Revenue Generation & De-risking: The model turns a liability into a cash-flow-positive asset. The revenue from the shared gold sales helps fund care, maintenance, and preliminary work, de-risking the future major investment.
Strategic Sequencing: By placing Elvington’s full-scale development after Shamva and Jena, Mutapa ensures it can deploy concentrated capital and management focus when the time is right, without overextending its resources.
This strategy underscores the effectiveness of Mutapa Investment Fund’s new vertically focused structure. Mutapa Gold Resources can apply specialised expertise to navigate the unique challenges of reviving gold assets, turning a historically problematic site into a planned engine of future growth and formal employment.
