Zimbabwe has made a direct appeal to Australian mining investors to take advantage of what the Government says is one of Africa’s most underexplored mineral frontiers, with Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Dr Eng. C. Makwiranzou saying the country’s exploration activity has not kept pace with its geological potential, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Addressing the Zimbabwe Mining Investment Seminar at Africa Down Under 2026 in Perth on Thursday, Makwiranzou said Zimbabwe was seeking capital, technology and expertise to unlock its extensive mineral resources and develop more value-added industries around them.
“Let me be candid with an audience of explorers. Our exploration activity has not yet matched our geological potential,” Makwiranzou said.
“That is precisely why it is an opportunity rather than an embarrassment.”
Zimbabwe is endowed with more than 60 commercially exploitable minerals, according to the Deputy Minister, including platinum group metals, lithium, chrome, nickel, gold, diamonds, coal, iron ore, graphite, tungsten, antimony and rare earth elements.
He said Zimbabwe’s mineral endowment placed the country in a strong position as global demand grows for critical and energy-transition minerals.
Exploration opportunity
Makwiranzou singled out Australian junior and mid-tier mining companies as potential partners in expanding exploration activity in Zimbabwe.
“To the Australian junior: we have under-explored ground on a world-class craton, and a cadastre being rebuilt to protect your title,” he said.
Government, he said, was modernising the Zimbabwe Geological Survey and advancing plans for a national airborne geophysical survey aimed at generating modern, high-resolution geological data for explorers.
The Ministry is also deploying drones, artificial intelligence and other advanced geoscience technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of geological surveys.
At the same time, Makwiranzou said Zimbabwe was completing the E-Mine Cadastre System to improve the administration of mining titles and reduce disputes over claims.
The Government was also applying what he described as a “use-it-or-lose-it” approach to mining ground, with idle concessions expected to be released to investors prepared to develop them.
Shift towards beneficiation
A major part of Zimbabwe’s investment pitch centred on beneficiation and the Government’s determination to move the country away from exporting unprocessed minerals.
Makwiranzou said restrictions on exports of unbeneficiated minerals were intended to encourage investors to establish processing and conversion capacity inside Zimbabwe rather than simply export raw materials.
“It is not a wall. It is a door, and it opens in one direction: towards the investor who builds capacity in the country,” he said.
Zimbabwe wants to move from exporting “high mineral volumes of low value” to exporting smaller volumes of higher-value products, including processed minerals, chemicals, components and industrial products.
The Deputy Minister pointed to developments in lithium, platinum and steel as evidence of the country’s beneficiation drive.
He said the Arcadia lithium sulphate plant exported Zimbabwe’s first locally produced lithium sulphate in April, while further lithium processing facilities were under construction at Kamativi and Sinomine Bikita.
In the platinum sector, he noted that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had recently officiated at the signing of a Special Mining Lease for the Karo Platinum Project.
Makwiranzou said the project’s first phase represented investment of about US$545 million, with more than US$240 million already deployed. The project is expected to increase Zimbabwe’s platinum group metals output by about 20% over a mine life exceeding 50 years.
Strong mineral export performance
Makwiranzou also used the seminar to highlight the mining sector’s recent performance.
He said Zimbabwe generated approximately US$5.73 billion in mineral export earnings during the first half of 2026, with gold accounting for about US$3.2 billion and other minerals contributing approximately US$2.53 billion.
According to the Deputy Minister, mineral exports excluding gold and silver increased by 84.7% compared with the same period in 2025.
Gold deliveries reached 21.7 tonnes between January and June, with small-scale and artisanal miners contributing 14.9 tonnes, or nearly 70% of the total.
Australian mining capital targeted
Makwiranzou said Zimbabwe had deliberately come to Perth because of Western Australia’s concentration of exploration capital, mining companies and mining equipment, technology and services businesses.
He said Zimbabwe was particularly interested in attracting Australian expertise into exploration, mine development, mining technology and beneficiation.
“To the mid-tier and the major: we have platinum group metal, lithium and chrome positions of a scale that justifies your attention,” he said.
“To the mining services and technology firms in this room: our mines are modernising, our beneficiation plants are being built now, and the procurement follows.”
He said opportunities existed across a range of commodities, including lithium conversion and downstream processing, PGM exploration and refining, ferrochrome production, gold mining equipment and financing, diamond beneficiation, iron and steel, coal, graphite, tungsten, antimony, rare earths and battery-grade nickel.
Makwiranzou said the Government wanted investors with long-term capital, technology and a willingness to support local beneficiation.
He also pointed to existing mining companies operating in Zimbabwe as evidence that investors could expand and reinvest in the country.
“Capital does not return to a jurisdiction that has mistreated it,” he said.
“Where you see reinvestment, you are looking at the most honest reference check available in this industry — and you will find a great deal of it in Zimbabwe.”
The Deputy Minister said the Ministry would follow up on serious investment enquiries made during Africa Down Under and facilitate engagement with relevant Government institutions and investment authorities.
Zimbabwe’s message to the Perth mining community, he said, was that the country was looking for partners capable of developing its mineral resources over the long term while helping build industries around them.
“Our success will not be counted in the tonnes we extract,” Makwiranzou said. “It will be counted in the industries we establish, the jobs we create and the communities we transform.”
