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Zambia has followed Zimbabwe in suspending negotiations with the United States on a proposed health funding agreement, accusing Washington of exploiting aid to gain preferential access to Africa’s critical mineral resources, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe on Monday said that the U.S. offered up to $2 billion in health assistance over five years but tied the conclusion of the deal to a separate critical minerals agreement that would give American companies preferential treatment over rival bidders, a condition he described as “unacceptable.”

“A further concern is the coupling of the proposed agreements, such that the conclusion of the critical minerals agreement is made conditional to the conclusion of the health memorandum,” Haimbe said in a statement. The Zambian government has been “consistent that the agreements must be considered separately on their respective merits.”

Lusaka also rejected U.S. data-sharing demands that Haimbe said would violate “our citizens’ right to privacy.” Health advocates had earlier warned that the aid carried undisclosed risks to patient confidentiality. The U.S. State Department declined to comment, citing standard practice not to disclose details of bilateral negotiations.

The move follows a precedent set by Zimbabwe, which walked away from its own U.S. health deal in February 2026. Harare refused a $367 million package, with government spokesperson Nick Mangwana explaining that the U.S. demanded “unfettered direct access to Zimbabwe’s sensitive health data, including pathogen samples and epidemiological information from our citizens.”

“The United States offered no reciprocal sharing of its epidemiological data with our health authorities,” Mangwana said. “At its core, the arrangement was asymmetrical.”

Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer and holder of significant cobalt and lithium reserves, has emerged as a strategic target for Washington’s campaign to reorient supply chains away from China. The U.S. is aggressively using offtake deals and state-backed funding to compete for copper and cobalt assets across the continent. In December 2025, the U.S. signed a partnership agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo, securing preferential access to Congolese deposits.

Southern African nations have grown wary of such agreements. Zambia’s decision comes as Zimbabwe is already seeking new health partners. The Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians has called for continued dialogue with the U.S. to salvage HIV treatment for 1.2 million people, but Harare refuses to compromise on sovereignty.

“A partnership, by its very definition, must be built on a foundation of mutual respect, transparency, and reciprocal benefit,” Mangwana said.

For mineral-rich African states, the growing tension reflects a broader reckoning: Western powers may no longer dictate terms that trade humanitarian aid for resource access. The U.S. has signed similar health MOUs with about 30 countries, but opposition is mounting. Ghana rejected its deal over broad health data access, and Kenya’s $2.5 billion agreement has been suspended by a court challenge.

As the Trump administration pivots from direct foreign aid to transactional economic partnerships, Lusaka and Harare have drawn a clear line.

Meanwhile, China is reinforcing its alternative. Zambia and China launched a $1.4 billion project in November 2025 to modernise the TAZARA railway for mineral exports. Chinese firms have invested about $6 billion in Zambia over the past two decades. The question now is whether Washington can afford to lose the copper and cobalt, or whether it will learn to offer partnership without strings attached.

#Mining #Africa #CriticalMinerals #Zambia #Zimbabwe #Geopolitics #EnergyTransition

Record US$426.6 million monthly gold earnings tell only half the story. Behind the price surge lies a multi-billion-dollar wave of mine re-openings, formalisation drives, and new capital that is reshaping Zimbabwe into a lasting gold powerhouse.

Gold has for long been at the top of foreign currency and export earnings for Zimbabwe, but never quite like this. In March 2026, semi-manufactured gold exports generated US$426.6 million, a staggering 45.8% of the country’s total goods export value of US$932 million for the month, according to ZIMSTAT’s External Trade Statistics.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

The first quarter of 2026 alone saw gold generate more than US$1.38 billion, up from US$755 million in the same period of 2025. Put simply, gold is not just an important export; it is the dominant driver of Zimbabwe’s external trade balance.

It would be easy to credit this entirely to the historic gold price, which has traded above US$4,000 per ounce since early 2025. And indeed, that price premium is doing heavy lifting. At April 2024’s US$2,000 per ounce levels, March’s gold earnings would have been roughly US$284 million instead of US$426 million, a difference of US$142 million. That difference alone is what kept Zimbabwe’s March trade deficit at a manageable US$142.8 million rather than doubling to near US$285 million.

But to stop there, to conclude that Zimbabwe is merely a passive beneficiary of external factors, is to miss a profound structural shift underway. The truth is more complex and far more encouraging: gold production is booming in its own right, led not by large-scale mechanised mines but by the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector.

This article will begin by examining the formalisation of the ASM sector, the quiet revolution that now accounts for three-quarters of national gold output, before turning to the wave of large-scale investment that is securing Zimbabwe’s gold future across the next decade.

Formalising the Backbone of Production

The artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector is no longer a peripheral activity in Zimbabwe’s economy today; it has become the central pillar of the nation’s gold output. In 2025, ASM gold deliveries jumped 46.9% to 34,875 kg, forming the bulk of the country’s record total 46.7 tonnes output. According to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), small-scale miners produced 34.9 tonnes out of a national total of 47.7 tonnes last year, meaning that ASM now accounts for roughly 75% of Zimbabwe’s gold deliveries.

This dominance is relatively recent, as recently as the first nine months of 2024, large-scale miners still delivered 9.55 tonnes compared to ASM’s 14.6 tonnes. By the same period in 2025, large-scale deliveries had fallen to 8.54 tonnes while ASM output surged to 24.45 tonnes. The structural shift is clear: Zimbabwe’s gold future is being dug out of the ground not by multinational syndicates, but by thousands of artisanal miners.

For 2026, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) has set an ambitious 40-tonne target from ASMs alone. Reaching that target, however, will depend almost entirely on successful formalisation, bringing miners out of the informal sector and into the regulated, taxable, financeable economy where they can operate safely and productively.

The Formalisation Blueprint

ZMF President Henrietta Rushwaya unveiled a comprehensive strategic roadmap designed to formalise, professionalise, and grow the ASM sector at the ZMF 2026 strategic meeting. The blueprint rests on several interconnected pillars: formalisation through digital innovation, institutional development and strategic partnerships, and inclusion and empowerment.

Central to the strategy is the aggressive rollout of the digital Gold Card system, a Fidelity Gold Refinery biometric ID that serves as a miner’s official passport into the formal economy, digitally logging identity details, location, and production data. Rushwaya positioned this as the “foundational formalisation tool” critical for creating a verifiable national database, simplifying compliance, and enabling traceability.

The Gold Card is also the “ticket to the formal global market,” promising access to premium ethical buyers who demand a verifiable chain of custody from mine to refinery. Rushwaya tasked provincial executives with mobilising grassroots campaigns to register every miner onto the Gold Card system, setting clear, measurable quarterly targets for registration, card issuance, and production volumes.

Government’s Nationwide Rollout

The government has thrown its full weight behind this formalisation drive. Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Polite Kambamura announced that mining development officers will soon be deployed in every district, mirroring agricultural extension services. These officers will be stationed across mining districts to provide technical support, enforce standards, and improve mineral accountability.

Speaking at the graduation of 300 artisanal miners in Chegutu, Kambamura declared: “This programme is a blueprint for mobile mining schools, training delivered directly in mining hubs across all provinces”. He described the training certificate each graduate received as a “passport to formality,” a transition from informality to professional practice.

“This is a statement of intent that Zimbabwe can grow its gold production responsibly, safely, and inclusively while protecting the environment and improving livelihoods.”

The ministry’s planned introduction of mining development officers in every mining district represents a permanent regulatory presence that has never before existed in Zimbabwe’s mining governance framework.

On-the-Ground Implementation

At the operational level, Magaya Mining (Pvt) Ltd is one of the most active private players driving formalisation. The company’s vision is explicitly “the formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector, empowering artisans throughout Zimbabwe to be key contributors to positive transformation.”

Magaya Mining operates an ASM support and management model across several key sites:

At Elvington Mine in Chegutu, in partnership with Mutapa Gold Resources and the Zimbabwe School of Mines, Magaya Mining has coordinated a capacity-building programme that graduated 300 artisanal miners in April 2026. The programme, which will eventually train 1,500 miners nationwide, covers safe mining techniques, environmental stewardship, mining legislation, financial literacy, and efficient ore processing.

This initiative has already seen equipment, compressors, windlasses, and generators handed over to Chegutu’s artisanal miners, significantly improving safety and operational efficiency. Mutapa Gold is currently implementing a contract mining model at Elvington, where artisanal miners share production with the company on an inclusive and equitable basis.

At the Amaveni site in Kwekwe, Magaya Mining is running another formalisation hub. Amaveni is a centre of ASM formalisation activities, where artisans are being equipped and trained to operate within the legal framework. Kwekwe is a known hotspot for illegal gold trading and smuggling, making formalisation efforts there particularly strategically important.

In the broader Chegutu district, Magaya Mining previously handed over mining equipment to artisanal miners as part of a government-backed formalisation drive, with a milling centre established where miners pay a nominal fee while retaining gold.

Fidelity Gold Refinery: The Conduit for Formalisation

Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) sits at the centre of all formalisation efforts. As the country’s sole operating gold buyer and refiner, FGR has evolved from a passive purchaser to an active facilitator of formalisation.

Several key initiatives are driving greater ASM participation:

Financial Incentives: FGR provides a 5% gold delivery incentive for ASM producers based on monthly delivery volumes. In March 2025, FGR lowered the incentive threshold from 20 kilogrammes to just 500 grammes, making it far easier for smaller-scale miners to qualify.

Improved Accessibility: FGR has expanded its Gold Service Centres across mining regions to reduce travel distances for inspections, payments, and certification. The company plans to increase its national footprint from the current 17 buying centres to 20.

Custom Elution Services: FGR is establishing custom elution service centres to provide technical milling and processing services to ASM miners, a move that directly tackles inefficiencies that have historically pushed miners towards informal markets.

The Gold Development Initiative Fund (GDIF): This fund, to which small-scale miners contribute, is envisioned as a tool for circular investment back into the sector.

Gold Trade Enforcement Unit (GTEU): In a critical enforcement move, FGR has established the GTEU under amended gold trade laws to combat illicit trading and smuggling. The unit secures mining sites against theft and ensures gold is sold only to licensed entities.

The gravity of this effort cannot be overstated: 85% of Zimbabwe’s small-scale miners are estimated to remain unregistered as of late 2025. That means the vast majority of the sector’s output is at risk of leakage into informal markets. The formalisation drive, therefore, is not merely about improving safety and environmental standards; it is about capturing value that is currently lost to smuggling and illicit trading.

What Formalisation Unlocks

The benefits of formalisation extend far beyond improved safety statistics. For individual miners, formalisation allows access to loans, grants, and investment partnerships—capital that can transform a subsistence operation into a sustainable business.

For the national economy, formalisation enables proper tracking and taxation of mineral output, directly bolstering foreign currency earnings, supporting the local currency, and fuelling broader economic transformation. As Henrietta Rushwaya put it, a stable and growing ASM sector is “non-negotiable for national macroeconomic stability.”

The numbers reflect this potential. In 2025, the government’s policy of allowing small-scale miners to retain 100% of their foreign currency earnings (unlike large-scale miners who must surrender 30%) helped drive ASM deliveries. Formalisation will extend this type of policy support to a far wider base of miners, multiplying the effect across the entire sector.

With the government’s nationwide training rollout, Mutapa Gold’s US$200 million investment programme for formalisation, Magaya Mining’s on-the-ground equipment and training, ZMF’s digital Gold Card system, and FGR’s expanded buying and enforcement infrastructure, Zimbabwe has assembled the architecture for a fully formalised gold sector. The question now is one of execution speed, not strategic direction.

The Investment Wave Behind the Production Boom

While the ASM sector provides the volume leadership, large-scale mining investment provides the durability. Nearly US$1 billion in new committed capital is flowing into Zimbabwe’s established gold mines, ensuring that production growth will outlive the current price cycle.

Mutapa Gold Resources

The major force driving large-scale expansion is Mutapa Gold Resources, one of five specialised entities created following the restructuring of the Mutapa Investment Fund’s mining portfolio in early 2026. Led by Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya, Mutapa Gold controls key gold assets, including Freda Rebecca, Shamva, and Jena gold mines.

The company aims to triple consolidated gold production to over 300,000 ounces (nearly 10 tonnes) per annum within three to four years, backed by a US$200 million investment programme. The evidence of this ambition is already visible in the numbers. Freda Rebecca achieved a record 240 kg in March 2026 alone, strongly confirming that the injection of capital and management focus is generating real output gains even before the full expansion programme has been deployed.

Beyond its own production, Mutapa Gold is also deeply involved in ASM formalisation through its partnership with the Zimbabwe School of Mines and Magaya Mining. The contract mining model at Elvington Mine, where artisanal miners share production with the company, represents a new paradigm for how large-scale operators engage with small-scale producers.

The company’s CEO, Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya, captured the shift succinctly: “Gone are the days when we used to chase them away. We now see them as partners.”

Namib Minerals – Reviving Dormant Giants

A second major investment surge is coming from Namib Minerals, which is injecting between US$300 million and US$400 million to reopen Mazowe and Redwing mines. Mazowe, a historic mine that produced over 1.4 million ounces before its closure, holds an estimated 1.2 million ounces at 8.4 grammes per tonne. Redwing contains approximately 2.5 million ounces at 3.07 g/t.

Feasibility studies are advancing for multi-decade production at both sites. The revival of these long-dormant assets represents a fundamental reclamation of value that had effectively been abandoned.

Caledonia Mining, Zimbabwe’s Next Mega-Mine

Caledonia Mining Corporation, already producing 80,000 ounces per year at Blanket Mine, is advancing the Bilboes project, projected to become Zimbabwe’s largest gold mine with a total capital cost of US$584 million.

The company has appointed arranger banks for a US$150 million interim facility, supplemented by US$319 million in senior debt and US$130 million from a convertible bond.

Crucially, Caledonia has implemented a gold price hedging programme, purchasing put options to secure a minimum price of US$3,500 per ounce for 3,000 ounces monthly through December 2028. This hedging mechanism directly insulates the project from the very kind of price correction that critics of price-driven growth worry about.

Even if spot gold falls significantly, Bilboes remains economically viable, a fact that fundamentally changes the risk calculus for investors.

Ariana Resources – The Tsholotsho Flagship

The Dokwe Gold Project in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North, contains an estimated 1.41 million ounces of gold, making it one of the most significant undeveloped gold deposits in Zimbabwe.

Following its recent ASX listing, Ariana raised A$11 million and is advancing a Definitive Feasibility Study targeting 100,000 ounces of annual production. A pre-feasibility study already outlined a 65,000-ounce-per-year open-pit operation over a 13-year mine life.

An agreement with Hong Kong Xinhai Mining Services for an AUD 8 million equity investment provides the technical and financial firepower to advance the project beyond the feasibility stage.

Kavango Resources – Exploration Paying Off

Kavango Resources raised US$8.4 million through share placements on the LSE and Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, advancing its Hillside Gold Project near Bulawayo.

The company recently declared a maiden JORC resource at the historic Bill’s Luck Gold Mine: 33,900 ounces at 2.68 g/t. With plans for a new Carbon-in-Pulp processing plant, Kavango is building a production pipeline from exploration success.

RioZim – Renco Mine Back Online

RioZim Limited successfully reopened Renco Mine following a capital-raising transaction that saved over 1,000 jobs. Between mid-September and October 2025, Renco produced approximately 50 kg of gold, signalling a strong return to productivity.

The revival of a distressed asset by conventional listed mining capital demonstrates that Zimbabwe’s gold sector can rehabilitate what was once lost through entirely private financial mechanisms.

The Scale of the Investment Wave

This is not speculative exploration. This is capital deployed at scale, by serious institutional investors, targeting defined mineral resources.

Beneficiation: The King Bullion Refinery

On the value-addition front, the King Bullion Refinery, owned by Betterbrands, is poised for its official opening in Bulawayo. Betterbrands has long operated as a major licensed gold buyer with a vast network of ASM miners, delivering substantial tonnage to Fidelity.

The new refinery represents a tangible step toward local beneficiation, allowing Zimbabwe to process more gold domestically rather than exporting semi-manufactured bars. This is precisely the kind of downstream integration that Zimbabwe’s mining policy documents have called for, and it is now being built.

The Constraints: Policy Headwinds and Persistent Leakage

The 30% foreign currency surrender requirement for large-scale miners remains a significant operational strain. It forces miners to convert export earnings at an official exchange rate that often lags the market, effectively acting as an implicit tax.

Caledonia’s Blanket Mine reported below-guidance Q1 2026 production, and while geology played a role, the financial architecture around large-scale mining is a contributing factor. Mines and the RBZ remain in crunch talks over the retention model, a policy variable that will need to be resolved for large-scale investment to reach its full potential.

Export Concentration Remains a Vulnerability

Export concentration remains a structural vulnerability. Gold, nickel mattes, and tobacco together account for 82% of export value. Zimbabwe prices none of them. A sharp correction in any one commodity would hit the trade balance hard.

Beyond Price: The Architecture of Durable Wealth

The critics of price-led growth are analytically correct, up to a point. Yes, the US$4,000 gold price is doing enormous work. Yes, if it corrects to US$2,000, the trade deficit would balloon. And yes, Zimbabwe remains a price-taker, not a price-maker.

But to reduce Zimbabwe’s gold surge to pure price speculation is to ignore:

• The 46.9% increase in ASM deliveries in 2025 to 34.875 tonnes
• The 300 artisanal miners who graduated in Chegutu in April 2026, with 1,200 more still in training
• The planned nationwide rollout of mobile mining schools across all provinces
• The digital Gold Card system that is creating the world’s first fully traceable artisanal gold supply chain
• The US$1.1–1.2 billion in committed investment from Mutapa Gold, Namib Minerals, Caledonia, Ariana, and others
• The hedging programmes that insulate new mines from exactly the price volatility that critics fear

When gold spot prices correct, as they always will, the mines being reopened today will still be there. The certified artisanal miners will still be producing. The King Bullion Refinery will still be processing. The Bilboes project, hedged against price declines, will still be under construction.

That is not illusory success. That is the architecture of durable mineral wealth, built on Zimbabwean ground, by Zimbabwean miners and their international partners.

Gold dominates Zimbabwe’s exports today because of high prices, but it will continue to dominate tomorrow because of what is being built right now.

Zimbabwe’s electricity import bill is rapidly approaching the US$1 billion mark, underscoring the scale of the country’s energy deficit and the growing pressure it is placing on the mining industry, which depends on a stable power supply to sustain production, Mining Zimbabwe reports.

By Ryan Chigoche

Latest data shows that between January 2021 and March 2026, the country spent US$881.7 million on imported electricity, highlighting an increasing reliance on regional power markets at a time when domestic generation continues to fall short of demand.

The figures point to a prolonged imbalance between domestic supply and demand. Output from key generation sources, including Kariba South and Hwange Thermal Power Station, has consistently fallen short, forcing authorities to supplement supply through imports from regional utilities such as Mozambique’s Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa, South Africa’s Eskom, and Zambia’s ZESCO.

On average, the country has been spending about US$13.4 million per month on imported electricity over the past five years. Annual expenditures peaked at US$207.8 million in 2022 and remained elevated at US$207.7 million in 2024. In the first three months of 2026 alone, Zimbabwe imported electricity worth US$35.1 million, suggesting continued reliance on external supply.

For mining companies, which drive a significant share of export earnings, these energy challenges have tangible operational consequences. Power outages and load-shedding disrupt production schedules, while reliance on diesel-powered backup systems significantly increases costs.

The sharp rise in imports recorded in 2022, including a monthly high of US$37.4 million in October, coincided with critically low water levels at Kariba Dam. Reduced hydropower output forced the country to turn to the regional market at a time when electricity prices were also elevated due to drought conditions affecting the wider Zambezi Basin.

This period highlighted the risks associated with Zimbabwe’s reliance on hydropower. With a large portion of generation capacity tied to Kariba, fluctuations in rainfall patterns continue to have a direct impact on electricity availability and, by extension, industrial productivity.

While the commissioning of Units 7 and 8 at Hwange added around 600MW to installed capacity, actual output has been constrained by operational challenges, including coal supply issues, maintenance requirements, and broader financial pressures within the power utility.

Electricity import costs dropped to US$117 million in 2025, the lowest annual figure over the review period. However, this decline does not necessarily signal improved domestic supply. Instead, it is largely attributed to foreign currency constraints, which have limited the ability to secure imports, resulting in increased load-shedding.

For the industry, including mining, this has translated into hidden costs, lost production time, equipment strain due to unstable supply, and higher energy expenses from alternative power sources.

Zimbabwe continues to rely on imports for roughly 20% of its electricity needs. Cahora Bassa remains the primary supplier, delivering between 200MW and 400MW through the direct transmission link into the national grid, with additional support from Eskom and ZESCO.

The sustained reliance on imports reflects a structural issue within the power sector, one that has persisted across multiple years without a lasting resolution.

In response, the Mutapa Investment Fund has outlined a US$500 million energy investment plan aimed at strengthening local generation capacity. The initiative forms part of a broader funding strategy that includes commodity-backed financing and financial sector partnerships.

If successfully implemented, the investment could help ease pressure on the import bill. For example, a 300MW solar project operating under Zimbabwe’s high solar irradiation conditions could generate roughly 600 million kilowatt-hours annually, potentially substituting around US$60 million worth of electricity imports.

For the mining sector, improved energy security would have far-reaching implications, enabling stable production, lowering costs, and supporting long-term expansion.

Zimbabwe’s electricity deficit, therefore, extends beyond the power sector; it remains a key constraint on mining performance, export growth, and overall economic stability.

Mutapa Gold Resources-owned Bindura-based miner, Freda Rebecca, produced a record 240 kilograms of gold in March, a monthly high, according to Chief Executive Officer Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

The output marks a recovery after operational problems at Freda Rebecca and Shamva mines curtailed production in the first half of the prior period. March falls in the first quarter of Mutapa Gold’s new financial year, which now ends on December 31 after the company changed its year-end from March 31.

“We’ve started the year well,” Maseva-Shayawabaya said in an interview with Mining Zimbabwe. “Freda had a record production of 240 kg.”

Freda Rebecca accounts for about 70% of Mutapa Gold’s total output, with Shamva Gold Mine contributing 20% and Jena 10%.

For the 12 months through March 2026, a period no longer aligned with the company’s financial year, total gold production fell to 3,255 kg (104,000 ounces) from 3,600 kg (116,000 ounces) a year earlier, the CEO said. The decline was “principally because we had great problems at both Freda and Shamva for about six months.”

Jena, which has higher ore grades of 3–4 grams per tonne versus 1.4–1.6 at Freda and Shamva, is on track to exceed 40 kg this month after a US$2 million plant upgrade last year, Maseva-Shayawabaya said.

Mutapa Gold Resources is a wholly owned unit of Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund, the Mutapa Investment Fund. The company plans to triple annual output to 300,000 ounces within six years through a US$200 million investment programme focused on Shamva and Jena.

Maseva-Shayawabaya became CEO on May 1, succeeding Trevor Barnard. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Mutapa Gold and Managing Director of Freda Rebecca.