Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) used the Dubai Precious Metals Conference 2025 to highlight the responsible sourcing and compliance framework now underpinning Zimbabwe’s gold value chain, positioning the country for greater acceptance in international bullion markets, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

Now in its thirteenth edition, the Dubai Precious Metals Conference (DPMC) remains a leading platform for strategic dialogue, policy insight, and market intelligence.

This year’s event comes amid rapid change in the precious metals sector, where surging prices, trade tensions, and digital disruption are reshaping supply chains.

From asset tokenisation to AI integration, the pace of transformation is unprecedented, making compliance, traceability, and responsible sourcing more critical than ever.

Against this backdrop, FPR General Manager Peter Magaramombe presented the Zimbabwean refiner’s initiatives, showing how domestic reforms align with global standards.

He highlighted efforts focused on transparency, risk management, and OECD-aligned due diligence, describing them as part of a broader push to modernise Zimbabwe’s refining sector and strengthen confidence in the origin of Zimbabwean gold.

Magaramombe announced that the FPR Board had approved a Responsible Sourcing and Supply Chain Management Policy, now publicly available on the company website.

The policy signals the refinery’s commitment to global compliance expectations and raising the bar for supply chain governance in Zimbabwe.

In a market where refiners and global exchanges increasingly demand proof of provenance, the origin of gold has become as important as its purity.

Heightened scrutiny over illicit flows, conflict financing, and ESG compliance has prompted hubs such as Dubai to require verifiable records from all upstream suppliers.

For Zimbabwe, demonstrating a clean, traceable, and well-governed supply chain is essential to maintain competitiveness, protect export channels, and secure market confidence.

To meet these expectations, Magaramombe outlined a series of compliance measures implemented across the value chain. FPR has rolled out a blockchain-based mine-to-market traceability system in partnership with Commstack.

This system creates immutable digital records, strengthening verification and reducing opportunities for illicit gold movements.

FPR has also established a fully fledged Compliance Department, led by a Senior Compliance Officer, to oversee risk management processes and ensure adherence to international norms.

As part of its due diligence, the refinery has assessed all upstream suppliers, mapping risks linked to conflict financing, human rights abuses, and regulatory breaches. These assessments are consolidated into an institutional risk register, categorised into low, medium, and high-risk ratings.

Response strategies are guided by an enterprise-wide risk management system, ensuring mitigation measures are proportional to risk.

These include mandatory customer due diligence, verification of source of funds, proof of mining rights, strict anti-money laundering protocols, and detailed customer profiling before onboarding.

FPR’s framework is independently validated through annual onsite inspections by the Financial Intelligence Unit and periodic reviews by external assurance providers, consistently earning positive assessments.

The refinery has also integrated its supply chain due diligence into annual ESG and sustainability reporting, reinforcing transparency across the gold value chain and supporting Zimbabwe’s broader alignment with global responsible sourcing standards.

Magaramombe said these measures collectively position FPR to meet international market expectations, prioritising traceability and accountability while building confidence in the provenance of Zimbabwean gold.

The 2025 conference, themed “The Future of Precious Metals: Tariffs, Tokenisation and Trade Flows,” provided an ideal backdrop to showcase Zimbabwe’s progress.

The event brought together industry leaders, policymakers, financiers, and technologists to explore where geopolitics and tariffs intersect with new mining partnerships, the evolving roles of bullion banks and trading companies, and Dubai’s continued rise as a global hub for precious metals, supported by record gold trade and a growing eastward shift in market influence.

Nasdaq-listed Namib Minerals is accelerating its operational improvement strategy at How Mine, pressing ahead with a major expansion of its ore-milling capacity, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

In its latest business update, the Company confirmed plans to lift milling capacity from 40,500 tonnes per month in 2024 to 55,000 tonnes per month by 2026, an approximately 36% increase in throughput. Procurement of the required equipment is already underway, with commissioning targeted for the second half of 2026.

“This capacity expansion will enable the Company to process higher ore volumes and offset the reduction in grade experienced to date in 2025,” Namib reported.

Namib Minerals is also positioning itself for sustained long-term growth. Its corporate objective is to evolve into a multi-asset, mid-tier gold producer targeting eventual output of 300,000 ounces per year.

The Company emphasises that this is a long-term strategic aspiration, not production guidance, and is not based on a Preliminary Economic Assessment, Pre-Feasibility Study, or Feasibility Study.

Progress toward this vision hinges on the successful execution of mine-restart programmes, expansion projects, and ongoing exploration and development initiatives.

Against this backdrop, Namib is advancing restart preparations across its other assets. At Redwing, enabling works have commenced, marking the first phased step toward returning the mine to production. Dewatering is scheduled to run concurrently with feasibility studies and is expected to take about eight months to reach the targeted mining levels.

Dewatering forms the backbone of the restart sequence, giving the Company access to underground workings, enabling infrastructure refurbishment, and preparing the ground for a phased production ramp-up. In parallel, surface-infrastructure upgrades, including power-supply reinforcement, are being lined up to match the restart timeline.

At Mazowe, Namib is undertaking similar restart activities. The Company is progressing upgrades to power, water, and tailings-management systems while conducting detailed engineering studies aimed at sharpening capital efficiency and optimising the mine-restart pathway.

As previously reported by this publication, Namib engaged WSP to carry out comprehensive S-K 1300-compliant feasibility studies for both Redwing and Mazowe.

Announced on November 10, 2025, the dual-study programme will run for 12 to 18 months and is expected to form the technical backbone of the restart process. Both mines remain under care and maintenance, with redevelopment contingent on completing dewatering and resource-definition drilling.

The ongoing feasibility work will provide the groundwork for reserve conversion, permitting, and future financing discussions—key steps required before production can resume.

To support its growth trajectory, Namib estimates that total capital requirements for its expansion and restart programme will range between US$300 million and US$400 million, with Redwing Mine expected to absorb the largest share.

The Company is pursuing a balanced funding model designed to minimise dilution, prioritising project debt, strategic partnerships, and internally generated cash flows.

Discussions with multiple capital providers are ongoing. Namib stresses that its funding estimate remains preliminary and is subject to feasibility outcomes, engineering refinements, market conditions, equipment costs, and other external risks.

China has urged a more balanced and evidence-based national conversation about its role in Zimbabwe’s mining sector, stating that many allegations circulating on social media and public platforms are distorted, unverified, or deliberately misleading, according to Mining Zimbabwe.

By Ryan Chigoche

Speaking at a recent event in the capital, the Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhou Ding, said a wave of misinformation aimed at discrediting Chinese companies had created an inaccurate impression of China’s footprint in Zimbabwe’s mining landscape.

“Certain narratives based on unverified information consistently and desperately smear Chinese enterprises. As we look into these allegations against Chinese companies and enterprises, unfortunately, we found that over 80% of them are exaggerated or fabricated, designed to incite xenophobia at very little cost,” he said. “Such tactics harm Zimbabwe’s business climate and discourage investors.”

He said this rising tide of distorted narratives often overshadows the scale of investment, job creation, value addition, and community development that accompany China’s partnership with Zimbabwe.

According to data shared in his remarks, more than 1,400 new Chinese companies have registered in Zimbabwe in the past three years, a significant portion of them in mining. Collectively, China–Zimbabwe trade and investment now support the livelihoods of more than one million people, with mining contributing more than half of this impact.

Major investors, including Dinson Iron and Steel Company, Huayou, and Sinomine, employ thousands of Zimbabweans and have partnered with vocational institutions to expand technical training and technology transfer.

The Ambassador linked Chinese investment to Zimbabwe’s broader economic agenda, including Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy.

He welcomed government commitments to maintaining a predictable business environment and expressed confidence that the upcoming Mines and Minerals Bill would further strengthen the sector.

Major national projects undertaken with Chinese support were highlighted, including expansions at Hwange and Kariba South power stations, upgrades at Victoria Falls and R.G. Mugabe International Airport, nationwide borehole drilling, medical infrastructure improvements, and high-performance computing systems at the University of Zimbabwe.

Call for Responsible Journalism

Turning to the media, Zhou emphasised the need for professionalism and ethical reporting in an era where misinformation spreads rapidly across digital platforms. He said the Chinese Embassy stands ready to provide journalists with access to accurate, first-hand information on China–Zimbabwe cooperation.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has issued a strong warning to individuals and institutions found in possession of gold without the required permits or licences, stating that violators will be arrested and prosecuted in line with the Gold Trade Act and regulations under the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

The warning follows the recent arrest and conviction of Joseph Phiri, who was found in possession of 3,118 grams of gold without proper documentation. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and the gold was forfeited to the State.

While the ZRP is simply enforcing the existing regulations, there is a growing consensus that Zimbabwe’s gold laws require urgent reform to suit the current mining environment.

A follower on the Mining Zimbabwe Facebook page encouraged the lobbying of the removal of the law, which they labelled oppressive.

“We should lobby for the removal of such oppressive laws. We are Zimbabweans, and it is our gold. So are we saying there is no makorokoza, isn’t?. Who are the major producers of yellow metal?. 

“Iyi haichafanira kuva mhosva iyi. Maybe dai mati ukabatwa uchida kubuditsa munyika.bt also reserve gold mining only to citizens, period and not negotiable,” translated “This should no longer be a crime. Maybe if you were caught trying to export it to the country. BT also reserves gold mining only to citizens, period and not negotiable,” another said among over 50 comments made minutes after we posted the ZRP Press release on Facebook, which is our biggest platform.

The law that the ZRP is enforcing was crafted at a time when formal mining houses dominated production and artisanal mining barely existed.

In a country that has gold in every district, and with the majority of a total of 1.5 million artisanal miners being unregistered, it may be time to re-examine this law to suit modern-day gold mining, which is heavily dominated by Artisanal and small-scale miners.