Gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) continued to rise in the first quarter of 2025. The increase was driven largely by the outstanding performance of Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners (ASM).
Total gold deliveries reached 8,496.4132 kilograms in Q1 2025. This represents a 40.49% increase from the 6,044.8689 kilograms delivered in the same period last year, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Gold deliveries in March 2025 amounted to 2,793.8132 kg, reflecting an 8.80% increase from the 2,568.2544 kg delivered in February 2025. This growth was almost entirely driven by ASM, who delivered 1,864.9957 kg—up 13.68% from 1,640.3149 kg the previous month.
Large-scale miners (LSM), in contrast, showed minimal growth month-on-month, with March deliveries at 928.8175 kg—a modest 0.09% rise from 927.9395 kg in February.
For the first quarter of 2025, ASM delivered a staggering 5,770.8580 kg, more than double the 2,901.8006 kg they delivered in Q1 2024—marking a 98.85% year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, large-scale miners contributed 2,725.5552 kg in Q1 2025, a 13.30% decline from the 3,143.0683 kg in Q1 2024. This highlights ongoing struggles in the formal mining sector due to factors such as operational constraints, undercapitalization, and electricity costs.
Total deliveries in Q1 2025 thus rose to 8,496.4132 kg, compared to 6,044.8689 kg delivered during the same quarter in 2024—translating to a 40.49% year-on-year growth.
In February 2025, gold deliveries totaled 2,568.2544 kg, up 38.63% from 1,853.0017 kg in February 2024. However, this marked an 18.06% decline from the 3,134.3456 kg delivered in January 2025.
ASM’s February contribution stood at 1,640.3149 kg, a remarkable 89.79% increase from the 864.3061 kg delivered in February 2024, despite falling from January’s 2,265.5474 kg. Large-scale miners delivered 927.9395 kg, representing a 6.14% decline from 988.6956 kg in February 2024 but an improvement from 868.7982 kg in January 2025.
The gold delivery trend in early 2025 echoes the performance seen throughout 2024, where ASM delivered 23,745.6423 kg compared to 12,741.1103 kg from large-scale miners, accounting for nearly two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s total gold output of 36,486.7526 kg—a 21.22% rise from 2023.
December 2024 capped the year with ASM delivering 3,127.7228 kg, up 19.57% from the previous month. LSM, however, saw an 8.16% drop to 1,034.517 kg.
The robust growth in gold deliveries so far in 2025 is underpinned by the resilience of ASM players, who continue to thrive despite rising operational costs, power challenges, and forex retention concerns. Their agility and responsiveness to market changes have made them the backbone of Zimbabwe’s gold sector.
Moving forward, targeted support for both ASM and large-scale miners—such as improved access to capital, reliable power, and fair market conditions—will be essential to sustaining and surpassing current growth levels.
With ASM showing no signs of slowing down, and with large-scale mining requiring urgent revitalization, Zimbabwe’s gold industry stands at a critical juncture—with massive potential waiting to be fully unlocked.
