Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

In an effort to create mercury-free, responsible artisanal mining operations, Magaya Mining is rolling out a nationwide network of carbon-in-leach processing plants while expanding its Gadzema site into Zimbabwe’s largest gold recovery facility, Chief Executive Officer Zweli Lunga said.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

The company’s strategy targets the elimination of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, a sector that now delivers more than 75% of Zimbabwe’s gold to Fidelity Gold Refinery but has caused severe environmental damage. According to a 2025 study, 96% of artisanal sites still rely on mercury, releasing over 24 tonnes annually into water systems and contributing to deforestation and biodiversity loss.

“The current mining process, from a small-scale perspective, requires that when a miner mills his material, he recovers gravity gold. To amalgamate that, you use mercury,” Lunga told Mining Zimbabwe during an environmental awareness engagement at the Gadzema site in Chegutu. “But mercury is harmful – its half-life is about 500 years. If it gets into your lungs, it can perforate them. Wherever there is mercury, nothing else can grow. It pollutes water bodies, and the water you drink can kill you – very slowly and silently.”

Lunga said Magaya’s carbon-enriched plants recover gold without mercury.

“When the miner produces his ore, he doesn’t need to use mercury – our plants do the recovery. The gap we need to fill is ball milling. We buy the ore from the artisan, pay them upfront, and run it through ball mills. That way, we don’t need mercury.”

The company currently operates six plants across Zimbabwe, with a seventh opening in Bulawayo within the next two weeks.

“We opened Kwekwe two months back – a 2,000-tonne-a-day plant. We’re opening Bulawayo in the next week or two, another 1,000 tonnes a day. That will bring our total to about seven,” Lunga said.

“Our vision is that wherever there is gold mining in Zimbabwe, our Magaya plants will recover gold for small-scale miners – or any miner whatsoever. That way, we can reduce mercury use to absolute zero.”

In Kwekwe, Lunga noted, all local miners now process through Magaya’s plant, and mercury use there is already declining. Next year, the company plans to expand to Shurugwi, Mhondoro, and Gwanda, eventually covering all gold-producing provinces.

Zimbabwe’s Largest Processing Plant

Lunga said the existing Gadzema plant – rated at 3,500 tonnes per day – is the largest in Mashonaland West and the second-largest in Zimbabwe after the 5,000-tonne Frida plant. An expansion now underway adds another 2,000 tonnes of daily capacity.

“Because of demand, we’ve started to expand. New tanks are coming up, another 2,000-tonne plant. In total, we’re looking at a combined capacity of over 5,500 tonnes per day – that’s more than 120,000 to 130,000 tonnes per month. Larger than the biggest processing plant,” he said.

“Our confidence is that small-scale miners produce at scale. There are many of them, and if they are assisted with loans, infrastructure, and formalisation, they will easily produce 5,000 tonnes. Already, the plant we’re using now is full – that’s why we’re expanding. We’re sitting on a large stockpile. The new plant will take us to the biggest processing plant in Zimbabwe by capacity – and in terms of production as well.”

Taming Violence Through Formalisation

Artisanal mining sites have long been plagued by deadly clashes over claims, theft, and illicit trading. Lunga said Magaya has implemented strict access controls to stabilise operations.

“We put up a fence, have armed guards, and access controls. People are searched – we remove weapons, alcohol, and drugs, which are drivers of violence.”

Long-term, formalisation has been key.

“Once you create an enabling environment for artisanal miners to produce and make money, and once you teach them to treat their shafts as an office, a business, a company, the need for violence goes away. People want to come here, work, and make money for their families – violence takes a back seat.”

The results, Lunga said, have been dramatic.

“When I started here, guys were stabbing and killing each other, including in Chegutu town. This year alone, we’ve had zero mining-related criminality – zero. People no longer have time to kill each other; everybody has time to work and make money.”

Zimbabwe Miners Federation President Henrietta Rushwaya, speaking at the same event, said the artisanal sector contributed 36 tonnes of gold in 2025 and sustains an estimated 1.5 million livelihoods directly and indirectly.

“Thousands of families depend on mining, and our members contribute substantially to national mineral production,” she said.

However, Rushwaya identified access to mining land as “the most significant challenge” facing the sector. With roughly 85% of more than one million ASM operators still unregistered, formalisation remains incomplete. The Government’s proposed Mines and Minerals Bill, gazetted in June 2025, aims to replace the colonial-era 1961 Act and prioritise formalisation, environmental safeguards, and community engagement. ZMF has also introduced a “Gold Card” biometric ID system to bring informal miners into a verifiable national database.

Rushwaya said the sector needs continued attention on finance, equipment, and formal titles to boost productivity.

“We strive to increase productivity and contribute more meaningfully to the country’s national development,” she added.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury, ratified by Zimbabwe in 2019, requires the eventual elimination of mercury use in ASM. Magaya’s mercury-free processing model aligns with that commitment while offering miners a commercially viable alternative.

Lunga said the nationwide expansion will provide miners with a choice.

“Eventually, there won’t be any need for anyone to use mercury. Through our plants, we can reduce mercury use to absolute zero.”

With the Gadzema expansion set to make Magaya the country’s largest processor and a growing network of regional plants, the company is positioning itself at the centre of Zimbabwe’s push for responsible, formalised, and environmentally sustainable artisanal mining.

The Government has moved a step closer to implementing Zimbabwe’s long-awaited Mining Cadastre Management Information System, a digital platform expected to improve transparency in mining title administration, reduce disputes over claims, and strengthen investor confidence in the sector, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

Presenting the post-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Zhemu Soda, said Cabinet had received an update from the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Dr. Polite Kambamura, on progress made in rolling out the system.

At the centre of the reform is the digitisation of more than 60,000 mining licences, including Blocks of Claims, Special Grants, Mining Leases, Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPOs), mining locations, and other permits currently held by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

Once fully operational, the system is expected to modernise the administration of mining rights by shifting from a largely paper-based registry to a computerised platform designed to improve efficiency, transparency, and governance in the allocation of mineral rights.

The reform is also expected to address long-standing challenges in the sector, particularly disputes arising from overlapping mining claims, as well as delays in the processing of applications—issues that have repeatedly been cited as barriers to investment.

In addition, the Government says the new system is aligned with broader efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the mining sector, where secure and predictable mineral tenure remains a key requirement for attracting exploration and long-term capital.

The latest update signals that the cadastre project has now entered its final phase of implementation, marking the most advanced stage yet in the long-running effort to digitise Zimbabwe’s mining title system.

First proposed in 2014, the project has faced repeated delays over the years, largely due to technical constraints and the verification of historical mining title records. However, officials now say the programme has gained momentum and is approaching full deployment.

Progress has already been made on the ground. About 60 percent of the country’s estimated 60,000 mining titles have been uploaded onto the system, allowing mining companies to view and verify their claims ahead of the full rollout.

Government officials say the platform is already partially functional, with mining data being continuously migrated as the system is finalised.

Both the public-facing application portal and the Ministry’s internal back-office processing system are now at an advanced stage of development, forming the core structure of the digital cadastre.

Authorities say earlier technical and operational bottlenecks have largely been resolved following staff training, data verification exercises, and closer coordination within the sector.

While nationwide rollout is still pending, officials say current work is focused on final refinements and system expansion ahead of a targeted full launch by December.

Once fully implemented, the electronic cadastre will replace Zimbabwe’s existing paper-based mining title registry with a digital system built on survey-grade geographic coordinates. The platform is expected to improve security of tenure, speed up licence processing, and create a more transparent and predictable investment environment.

Beyond improving administrative efficiency, the reform is also expected to support the formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector and strengthen Zimbabwe’s positioning as a competitive destination for mining exploration and long-term investment.

I have always been a journalist who moves in the bushes. Sometimes I do it on weekends to refresh, to see beyond paper and pen, to learn, to know, to understand.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

This time, I went to Mtoko.

The dust hits you first. Then the sound, the relentless chatter of compressors, the crack of jackhammers against ancient rock. Mining is taking place here. Men and women, covered in earth, are digging, blasting, crushing, and panning. It is a scene repeated across Zimbabwe, where artisanal and small-scale miners now account for more than 70 percent of national gold output.

But as I watched, I began to notice something.

The gold they were pulling from the ground was not all going where you might expect. Some of it was making its way to Fidelity Gold Refinery, just enough, I would later learn, to keep the authorities satisfied. But the rest? That was going somewhere else.

The sponsors

I sat with them under the shade of a msasa tree, the dust settling on their overalls. They had been working since sunrise, and their hands still bore the stains of the red Mtoko earth.

A miner pointed to the equipment around us – compressors, jackhammers, explosives.

“This is not ours,” he said. “This belongs to the sponsors.”

I asked him who these sponsors were.

He shrugged. “They come. They see what we are doing. They do a bit of research, chikorokoza-type exploration, and then they start putting in capital.”

Not much, he explained. Sometimes not more than US$2,000. And things start to happen.

The economics of survival

They do not need much, he told me. Food. A compressor. A jackhammer. Maybe personal protective equipment. The sponsors provide all of this, and they wait. Sometimes it takes time for the gold to come. The sponsors are patient.

In return, they buy all the gold produced. At a price they set. And they share.

“They are not lenders,” he said, pointing a finger at me for emphasis. “They are partners in the project.”

As I listened, I began to piece together the economics of it all. The sponsors fund exploration, provide working capital, supply equipment. The miners provide the labour, the knowledge of the ground, and the sweat. When the gold comes, they split it, but the sponsors control the price, and they control where it goes.

The Fidelity balancing act

I asked about Fidelity Gold Refinery.

They looked at each other.

The police visits had changed things, they told me. The authorities wanted to see the books. They wanted to know where the gold was going. So now they do the thing, they take some grams to Fidelity. Just enough to balance the books. Just enough to show compliance.

I asked one of them quietly, away from the others: “The sponsors, do they take the gold to Fidelity?”

He lowered his voice. “Some days, maybe. But not all of it. It’s a ring.”

I took note. It was an observation I would investigate later.

The model that works

What struck me most was not the smuggling; it was the sophistication of the sponsor model. These sponsors were not simply buying gold. They were investing in exploration, funding operations, providing equipment, and managing logistics. They were, in effect, acting as junior mining companies, operating entirely in the shadows.

The miners I spoke with saw the logic of it.

“We are here because of the sponsors. We mine because of their money. Without them, the gold is not there.”

But they also saw the limitations. They were selling their gold at prices set by others. They had no access to formal financing and no formal title to the ground they were mining. They were producing national wealth, but they were not fully benefiting from it.

A better way

I brought up the Magaya Mining model, the partnership between Mutapa Gold Resources and the Chekutu-based company that has created a consolidated mining framework, a one-stop shop where everything is done under one roof. It was my observation that this model could be applied more widely.

They had heard of it.

“We have seen what Mutapa Gold is doing,” one of them said. “Can we take it more to the sponsors’ model?”

He was not asking for a handout. He was asking for a better business model.

“The banks, yes, they can be formal, but not too formal,” he said. “The sponsors’ model works. Do a bit of exploration. Fund the operation. Buy the gold. All the gold is yours to buy at a price you set. And you share.”

I asked him why the government couldn’t do what the sponsors were doing.

“They can,” he said. “Even better. More formally. More precisely.”

His eyes searched mine.

“If they don’t trust us, they can understudy what the sponsors are doing. They are not running out of business.”

The will to invest

What was missing, he told me, was the will. The sponsors saw the opportunity and seized it. They took risks. They invested. They built relationships.

“The government can do that too,” he said. “They have the resources. They have the expertise. They just need to want to do it.”

I asked him what he would change if he could.

“Everything,” he said. “We need a better business model. We think the government can bring that. We want to deal with government directly.”

A gold future

As I walked away from the msasa tree, I thought about what I had seen. Here were men and women, thousands of them across this country, producing more than 60 per cent of Zimbabwe’s gold. They were doing it with little more than compressors, jackhammers, and the support of shadowy sponsors who operate in the grey spaces of the economy.

They want to come into the light. They have seen the Magaya model. They know the government can replicate the sponsor model, but do it better, do it formally, and do it transparently.

A ray of hope

As I packed my notebook, one of the miners caught my eye.

“Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo,” he said with a knowing smile. “A country is built by its own people. Let us build it together.”

He was not asking for charity. He was asking for a partnership.

The gold might be going anywhere now. But these miners want it to go somewhere specific: into the formal economy, into the national fiscus, into a system that benefits everyone.

They just need the will.

And I left the dust of Mtoko behind, carrying their words with me, wondering if anyone in the corridors of power was listening.

The Constitutional Court has upheld a High Court ruling declaring Section 28(2) of the Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act unconstitutional, clearing the way for 27 former Shabanie Mashava Mines (SMM) employees to pursue terminal benefits withheld for nearly 15 years, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

The decision confirms that the provision unlawfully curtailed labour protections for employees of companies placed under reconstruction by preventing them from enforcing claims for benefits despite the employer acknowledging its indebtedness.

The application was brought by former SMM employee Josephat Gwatida and 26 others against the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Attorney General, with Shabanie Mashava Mines cited as the third respondent. The Constitutional Court upheld a February 2025 High Court judgment delivered by Justice Sunsley Zisengwe, which found the provision inconsistent with the Constitution.

While suspending the declaration of constitutional invalidity for 180 days to allow the responsible minister to amend the legislation, the apex court ruled that workers’ constitutional rights cannot be restricted indefinitely simply because a company remains under reconstruction.

The judgment also brings renewed attention to the prolonged collapse of Shabanie Mashava Mines, once Zimbabwe’s sole asbestos producer and one of Africa’s largest chrysotile asbestos mining companies. Before financial difficulties forced the company into reconstruction in 2004, SMM employed more than 5,000 workers and formed the economic backbone of Zvishavane and Mashava.

Although successive administrations have announced plans to revive the mining giant, including proposals to attract investors, dewater underground workings and restart operations, the company has not returned to sustained commercial production. Earlier this year, the Government placed SMM under a fresh 24-month reconstruction order and appointed a new administrator in another attempt to revive the operation, while thousands of former employees continue to pursue unpaid salaries, pensions and terminal benefits accumulated over the years.

The dispute before the courts arose after the applicants’ employment was terminated in October 2011. Although SMM acknowledged owing them terminal benefits, the former workers were unable to pursue payment because Section 6(b) of the Reconstruction Act required them to obtain the reconstruction administrator’s permission before instituting legal proceedings against the company.

According to court papers, the workers submitted a written request seeking that approval but received no response, effectively leaving their claims in legal limbo as the reconstruction process continued without any statutory deadline.

In challenging Section 28(2), the applicants argued that the provision violated their constitutional rights to fair labour practices under Section 65(1) and equality before the law under Section 56(1) by indefinitely suspending protections available under the Labour Act.

Justice Zisengwe agreed, ruling that the provision imposed an unfair, unreasonable and unjustifiable limitation on workers’ constitutional rights. The High Court also noted that, unlike Zimbabwe’s Insolvency Act, which provides clear mechanisms and timelines for settling employees’ claims, the Reconstruction Act contained no comparable safeguards for workers whose employers remained under reconstruction.

The Constitutional Court, comprising Chief Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza and Justices Paddington Garwe, Annie Gowora, Ben Hlatshwayo, Bharat Patel, Susan Mavangira and Nicholas Mathonsi, unanimously upheld that reasoning.

The ruling is expected to have implications beyond Shabanie Mashava Mines, strengthening legal protections for employees of companies placed under reconstruction by affirming that prolonged corporate restructuring cannot be used to indefinitely delay or deny workers access to statutory employment benefits.

When some South Africans speak about Zimbabwe, the narrative is often one of a failed state that offers nothing but desperate migrants and economic chaos. But the trade and mining data tell a dramatically different story, one in which South Africa extracts billions of dollars from Zimbabwe’s mining sector while offering comparatively little in return.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

This article examines the deeply one-sided economic relationship between the two neighbours, focusing on how South African companies, suppliers, and service providers capture the lion’s share of value from Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: A US$3.8 Billion (R62.4 billion) Import Bill

In 2025 alone, Zimbabwe imported goods worth US$3.804 billion (R62.4 billion) from South Africa, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database via Trade Map. This represents a steady increase from US$3.697 billion (R60.75 billion) in 2024 and US$3.499 billion in 2023.

To put this in perspective, Zimbabwe imports roughly US$7 from South Africa for every US$1 it exports to South Africa. South Africa’s imports from Zimbabwe in 2025 stood at just US$526.42 million (R8.66 billion), according to UN COMTRADE data.

South Africa is the largest source of Zimbabwe’s imports, consistently accounting for 34.5% to 38.8% of Zimbabwe’s total monthly imports throughout 2025. In December 2025, South Africa supplied 38.8% of Zimbabwe’s imports, while China followed with just 15.5% and Bahrain with 13.5%. China, the second-largest source, supplies less than half of what South Africa does.

For the first seven months of 2025 alone, imports from South Africa dropped by over 6% to around US$2 billion (R32.87 billion), down from more than US$2.3 billion (R37.8 billion) during the same period in 2024, a reduction of more than US$140 million (R2.3 billion) as Zimbabwe’s manufacturing industry began to rebound. Despite this decline, South Africa remains Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The key mining-related imports from South Africa in 2025 included machinery and mechanical appliances valued at US$526.57 million (R8.65 billion), mineral fuels and oils at US$252.51 million (R4.15 billion), and cereals at US$506.93 million (R8.33 billion). Machinery maintained its dominance among imports from South Africa, reflecting the mining sector’s continued reliance on South African equipment.

The Mining Sector: Where the Real Money Flows

According to the Zimbabwe Embassy, approximately US$2.1 billion (R34.5 billion) of the mining sector’s US$5.4 billion (R88.76 billion) revenue is spent on imported machinery, equipment, and services, mainly from South Africa. An Afreximbank report further revealed that 80% of Zimbabwe’s intra-African mining-related imports, totalling US$4.7 billion (R77.25 billion), originate from South Africa.

Yet Zimbabwe’s local manufacturing sector contributes only about 15% of the mining industry’s requirements. The remaining US$2.1 billion (R34.5 billion) in sector revenue leaves the country, much of it flowing directly into South African pockets.

South African Ownership of Zimbabwe’s PGM Sector

Zimbabwe holds the world’s third-largest platinum group metals (PGM) resource along the mineral-rich Great Dyke, after South Africa and Russia. Yet all three of the country’s operating PGM mines are majority-owned by South African companies.

Zimplats, Zimbabwe’s largest platinum producer, is 87% owned by South Africa’s Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats). In FY2025, Zimplats’ 6E production in matte fell by 6% to 606,300 ounces, down from 645,900 ounces in FY2024, driven primarily by poor fleet performance and the lock-up of concentrates during the commissioning of its expanded smelter complex. Despite the short-term decline, the smelter expansion represents a significant long-term investment in beneficiation and value addition in Zimbabwe, although the expanded smelter is expected to reduce reliance on toll treatment in South Africa over time.

Mimosa Mining Company is jointly owned by two South African giants, Impala Platinum (50%) and Sibanye-Stillwater (50%). In FY2025, Mimosa produced 253,900 ounces of 6E concentrate, a slight 1% decline from 255,400 ounces in FY2024. The dip was driven primarily by intermittent regional power disruptions that impacted plant throughput and recovery efficiency. The mine employs more than 1,400 workers directly and supports thousands more indirectly through supply chains.

Unki Platinum Mine is wholly owned by South African-headquartered Valterra Platinum (formerly Anglo American Platinum). Unki produced 219,700 ounces of PGM concentrate in 2025, representing approximately 7% of the group’s total concentrate output. However, the mine recorded an 8% year-on-year decline in production during Q3 2025, producing 57,500 ounces compared to 62,500 ounces in the same period of 2024, primarily due to lower ore grades.

Tharisa’s Karo Platinum Project is also setting up and is expected to be in production in the second half of 2027.

Overall, Zimbabwe’s platinum production is projected to have declined by approximately 4% in 2025 to 491,000 ounces, retreating from the record levels achieved in 2024, according to the World Platinum Investment Council.

It’s not just platinum but Gold too!

Namib Minerals, founded by South African mogul Mzi Khumalo, owns multiple gold mines in Zimbabwe, namely How Mine, Mazowe Mine (Jumbo) and Redwing Mine.

Currently, How Mine is the fourth-largest gold-producing mine in Zimbabwe after Freda Rebecca, Blanket Mine, and Eureka gold mines. With the addition of Redwing Mine and Mazowe Mine, Namib Minerals has the potential to become Zimbabwe’s largest gold producer if all its mining operations are successfully revived and brought back to full production.

South African-headquartered companies such as Caledonia Mining extract gold from Zimbabwe while basing their management and decision-making in Johannesburg.

Not to mention South Africans who are trading in the Chrome mining industry.

Jobs Exported: Where the Refining Happens

Beyond equipment and consumables, South Africa also captures the high-value refining and beneficiation jobs.

Zimplats dispatches its matte to Impala’s refinery in Springs, South Africa, under a life-of-mine agreement with Impala Refining Services. The expanded smelter at Zimplats produces matte that is transported to South Africa for refining.

The refinery jobs, tax revenues, and value addition, the highest-value stages of the mining value chain, accrue to South Africa, not Zimbabwe. While Zimplats’ US$398 million smelter expansion project is a step toward local beneficiation, the vast majority of Zimbabwe’s PGM output is still processed outside the country.

Another South African Export to Zimbabwe’s Mines

Zimbabwe’s mining sector is heavily reliant on imported electricity, and South Africa’s Eskom remains a major supplier.

In the first quarter of 2025, Zimbabwe’s electricity imports declined by 37.4% to 305.5 GWh, down from 487.8 GWh in the previous quarter, driven by strong domestic generation. However, the import breakdown shows that 34% of the electricity still came from South Africa’s Eskom, while Mozambique’s HCB and EDM supplied 37.5% and 10.2%, respectively.

Overall, Zimbabwe spent US$117 million (R1.92 billion) on electricity imports in 2025, the lowest full-year figure in five years by a considerable margin. However, every kilowatt-hour powering Zimbabwe’s mines still represents another revenue stream for South Africa.

The Narrative That Needs to Change

The perception that South Africa “gets nothing” from Zimbabwe is not just false, it is dangerously misleading.

South African companies own Zimbabwe’s three PGM mines (Zimplats, Mimosa, and Unki). South African suppliers capture 80% of Zimbabwe’s mining-related imports. South African refineries process Zimbabwe’s minerals, generating jobs in that country. South African banks and shareholders receive the dividends.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s manufacturing capacity utilisation stands at just 56.2%, far below the mining sector’s 81%–84% capacity. The gap between what Zimbabwe could produce locally and what it imports from South Africa represents billions, lost jobs, lost industrialisation, and lost economic sovereignty.

South Africa enforces a strong local content strategy, requiring at least 70% of mining goods and 80% of services to be sourced locally. Zimbabwe approved its Local Content Strategy in 2019 with ambitious targets, but as of 2025, only 15% of the mining sector’s requirements are met by local manufacturers.

Zimbabwe’s mining sector continues to grow, but if the supply chains continue to flow to South Africa, the benefits will continue to leak across the border.

When South Africans question what Zimbabwe contributes, the answer is clear:

Zimbabwe contributes billions of dollars annually to the South African economy through mining imports, equipment purchases, refinery throughput, electricity sales, and shareholder dividends. That is equal to much-needed jobs, jobs, jobs.

The question is not whether South Africa benefits from Zimbabwe.

The question is whether Zimbabwe will ever benefit as much from its own minerals as South Africa does.