Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, H.E. Zhou Ding, has outlined a compelling vision for the country’s economic transformation, declaring that Zimbabwe’s future depends not on exporting raw materials but on building domestic industries that process minerals locally, create jobs and develop skills, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

Addressing delegates at the Zimbabwe-China Investment Symposium in Harare, Ambassador Zhou presented a roadmap that positions the bilateral partnership as a long-term catalyst for industrialisation, value addition and sustainable economic growth in alignment with Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).

“The future of Zimbabwe lies not only in extracting its natural resources but in processing them locally, creating industries, developing skills and generating sustainable employment,” the Ambassador said.

The remarks come as Chinese investments in Zimbabwe have surpassed the US$10 billion mark, making China the country’s largest source of foreign direct investment. These investments span mining, manufacturing, agriculture, energy, digital infrastructure and other productive sectors, creating nearly one million local jobs while generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue annually.

Ambassador Zhou highlighted landmark investments that demonstrate the shift from exporting raw minerals towards building domestic industrial value chains. The Dinson Iron and Steel Plant in Manhize, a US$1.5 billion integrated steelworks, stands as the most potent symbol of this transformation. The plant is already producing over 500,000 tonnes of steel annually, with capacity expected to reach 1.2 million tonnes.

“Sixty percent of this production is exported, directly generating the foreign currency that is the lifeblood of Zimbabwe’s economy,” Ambassador Zhou noted during a recent visit to the facility.

In the lithium sector, Chinese firms have invested more than US$2 billion since 2021. Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, in partnership with China’s Huayou Cobalt, has invested approximately US$400 million in the Arcadia lithium sulphate plant – Africa’s first such facility – with production scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2026. Sinomine’s Bikita Minerals has built a lithium sulphate plant valued at approximately US$500 million.

The Palm River Energy Metallurgical Industrial Park, a US$3.6 billion project in Beitbridge, represents another flagship investment, encompassing coking and ferrochrome processing, cement and fertiliser manufacturing, and integrated power generation.

Policy Alignment and Zero-Tariff Opportunity

The Ambassador highlighted the close alignment between China’s Fifteenth Five-Year Plan and Zimbabwe’s NDS2, saying the two countries now have an opportunity to integrate industrial, supply and value chains for mutual economic benefit.

He described China’s decision to grant zero-tariff access to exports from 53 African countries, effective May 1, 2026, as a historic opportunity for Zimbabwean producers. Bilateral trade climbed to a record US$4.4 billion in 2025, representing a 15.2 percent increase from the previous year, with Zimbabwe enjoying a trade surplus of approximately US$740 million.

According to Ambassador Zhou, the preferential trade arrangement would encourage value addition, promote export diversification and support Zimbabwe’s ambition to move beyond exporting raw materials towards supplying higher-value manufactured and processed products.

However, the Ambassador stressed that achieving meaningful industrialisation requires addressing key structural challenges. He identified inadequate electricity supply, transport infrastructure, water systems and railway networks as major constraints slowing industrial growth and increasing production costs.

While acknowledging progress made through Chinese-supported infrastructure projects, including power generation, airport modernisation and telecommunications expansion, he said additional investment in logistics corridors, renewable energy, industrial parks and digital infrastructure remains essential.

He added that Chinese investors are currently developing captive power stations with a combined generation capacity exceeding 1,000 megawatts to support industrial production and ease electricity shortages.

Beyond infrastructure and industry, Ambassador Zhou placed significant emphasis on policy certainty, describing a transparent and predictable business environment as one of the strongest drivers of long-term investment. He welcomed the Government’s commitment to regulatory consistency, saying investor confidence is built on stable policies that allow businesses to plan decades into the future.

Equally important, he said, is fostering a positive investment narrative that reflects the realities of Zimbabwe-China cooperation. The Ambassador warned against misinformation and negative perceptions that discourage investment while reaffirming China’s expectation that all Chinese companies operating in Zimbabwe comply fully with local laws, uphold environmental standards and maintain constructive relationships with host communities.

He further revealed that Chinese enterprises have collectively invested more than US$100 million in corporate social responsibility programmes across Zimbabwe, supporting schools, health facilities, roads, boreholes, vocational training and community development initiatives that directly improve livelihoods.

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.