ZIMBABWE urgently needs to embrace the Exclusive Prospecting Order (EPO) system to give geologists the room they need to make world-class discoveries, with the country’s last national geological map dating back to 1977 and exploration data lagging far behind regional peers, the Geological Society of Zimbabwe (GSZ) has said.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the Chamber of Mines Annual Conference, GSZ Membership Secretary and Special Programmes Coordinator Gayle Hanssen, a geologist with nearly 40 years of experience, made a passionate case for the EPO system as the foundation for serious mineral exploration.
“You need big ground to look at and you need big information, so that is, of course, our EPO system that the geologists very, very much like,” Hanssen said. “We are definitely advocates for the EPO system.”
Maligreen discovery proves EPO value
Hanssen drew on her personal experience with the discovery of the Maligreen deposit to illustrate why EPOs are essential.
“Having been involved in the discovery of Maligreen, we actually looked at 300 square kilometres and that covered five contiguous EPOs, and we found a one-million-ounce deposit,” she revealed.
“You need a big ground area to narrow down into that and that took us a period of nine years – a full EPO, three plus three plus three. This takes a long period of time.”
She noted that World Bank statistics suggest it takes an average of 12 years to discover a one-million-ounce deposit, meaning even the current EPO system’s maximum six-year term is barely sufficient.
EPOs get recycled, data returns to government
Hanssen explained that exploration is rarely a first-time success.
“The worldwide statistic is that two and a half companies tend to look at the ground prior to discovery. So these EPOs get recycled, and the information goes back into the government resource, which is the Geological Survey of Zimbabwe,” she said.
She described the Geological Survey as the country’s “data repository”, containing “fantastic information, including handwritten reports from the 1890s” – but stressed the urgent need for digitisation.
“We would like it to be a bit more accessible. We need it to be a bit more digital so that people around the world can look at our information,” Hanssen said.
Aeromagnetic data critical for attracting investment
Hanssen recalled how a national aeromagnetic survey at one-kilometre spacing in the 1990s drew significant exploration interest.
“Within about five years of that survey being completed, many companies accessed ground on that,” she said.
However, she warned that Zimbabwe is falling behind its neighbours.
“Zambia, Congo, Namibia, and Angola have or are currently flying their countries at 100 to 300 metres spacing – three times more resolution than what we have in our country – and it makes a phenomenal difference to ground selection,” Hanssen said.
Potential beyond greenstone belts
While acknowledging that most of Zimbabwe’s gold has historically come from the country’s 22 Archean greenstone belts, which have produced over 60 million ounces of gold, Hanssen urged exploration beyond these traditional areas.
“Forbes says our gold is all in the greenstone belts. There’s gold elsewhere in the world, and there are very big discoveries being made in different formations. I do believe that we have potential in those domains as well,” she said.
She noted that Zimbabwe currently has only one one-million-ounce deposit outside the greenstone belts – Renco Mine in the Limpopo Mobile Belt.
Retaining talent, building research capacity
Hanssen raised concerns about brain drain in the geological profession.
“Zimbabwe exports some of the best geologists in Africa, but I also believe that we need to remain current because many of our people are outside the country,” she said.
She pointed to Ghana’s successful industry-funded research and development programme over the past 15 to 20 years as a model Zimbabwe could emulate.
“We need to know the ages of our rocks in Zimbabwe. It’s not necessarily just assays that we go on; it’s many other things for us to understand our geological potential,” Hanssen said.
“We need to see a whole lot more people at doctorate and professor level for our research and development – and those are the people, along with government aeromagnetic projects, that drive investment.”
African capital for African exploration
Hanssen challenged the notion that junior mining companies are solely a Western stock exchange phenomenon.
“Juniors are not a Western stock exchange thing; it’s available risk capital. Even if we talk about juniors, we’re not talking about just the Toronto Stock Exchange, we are talking about African investments in African countries,” she said.
“There’s a lot of money in Africa. I look at the Copperbelt a bit – there’s money up there that’s also looking for gold investment opportunities outside copper investment.”
Her remarks come as the Government moves to review the EPO framework, with the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill currently before Parliament seeking to address concerns about EPOs and introduce frameworks that enable small-scale miners to be formally recognised.
The GSZ has been at the forefront of advocating for exploration reform, with the society’s 2025 Summer Symposium highlighting how the suspension of EPOs since the early 2000s has stalled new large-scale discoveries, driven skills migration, and fuelled informal mining.
