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FS Mining has invested about US$2.4 million in the rehabilitation of 22 kilometres of roads in Insiza District, Matabeleland South, cutting travel times for rural communities and improving access to markets, schools and other services, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

The Malole-Dickson and Silalatshani-Sanale-Malole roads were officially commissioned following a rehabilitation programme carried out through a partnership involving FS Mining, Tofee Mining, the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA), Insiza Rural District Council and local communities.

The project covered 11 kilometres of the Malole-Dickson Road and another 11 kilometres along the Silalatshani-Sanale-Malole route, with regravelling and other works carried out on sections that had become difficult to use.

Heavy rains and truck traffic had contributed to the deterioration of the roads, creating transport challenges for communities in Malole, Nhlangano, Zvikombe, Mazeya and surrounding areas.

The impact was reflected in the time and cost of travelling between the communities and the main road.

FS Mining Director Precious Mabuza said journeys from the business centre to the main road that previously took about an hour and 30 minutes could now be completed in less than 30 minutes.

“Today is not simply about opening the road; it is about opening a path to opportunity,” Mabuza said.

“For us, when we see each and every community being able to travel, I can tell you that, as we speak right now, most people, when they were leaving the business centre to go to the main road, were taking about one hour and 30 minutes. Well, now they are taking less than 30 minutes to get there.”

The improved road has also made movement between neighbouring communities easier, with Mabuza noting that residents were now cycling along sections that had previously been difficult to navigate.

“As we are driving these days here, we are even seeing people cycling,” she said.

For communities that rely on the road to access goods and services, the rehabilitation has addressed problems that extended beyond travel times.

Community representative Christopher Moyo said residents had been paying about US$5 for the 22-kilometre journey, while some delivery trucks had stopped servicing local businesses because of the poor road condition.

“The road was not passable. We used to pay US$5 for a short distance like 22 kilometres. Even delivery trucks were refusing to deliver some goods to our shops, citing poor road network,” Moyo said.

“Now all that is history, thanks to FS Mining. Please, fellow villagers, let’s maintain our road.”

The road project also forms part of FS Mining’s wider community interventions, including support for Zvikombe School, which the company has adopted.

The mining company has supported school activities such as sports days and provided assistance to individual residents, including school fees for some children and a wheelchair for a 12-year-old child.

“We believe that the community where we are mining the mineral is the one that has to benefit more than anyone else. Hence, all the programmes that we do,” Mabuza said.

“We are not saying that at FS Mining we are going to be able to touch each and everyone’s life, but we’ve touched a few lives.”

The road rehabilitation was financed by FS Mining, which supplied tippers and excavators, grader blades, fuel, lubricants and labour. Tofee Mining provided additional tippers, while RIDA and Insiza RDC supplied technical support and machinery, including motorised graders.

Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Albert Nguluvhe said the improved road network would strengthen connections between communities and service centres.

“Today marks a significant milestone for the communities of Malole, Nhlangano, Zvikombe, Mazeya and surrounding areas, who stand to benefit from improved connectivity, access to essential services and greater economic opportunities,” Nguluvhe said.

He added: “Road infrastructure is more than a means of transportation. It is an enabler of development and a pathway to opportunity.”

The minister pointed to the role of roads in moving agricultural produce, goods and services while connecting rural communities to schools, health facilities, markets and government services.

For Insiza RDC, the intervention came after the council and RIDA were approached by FS Mining over the deteriorating road.

“After FS Mining realised that our road was damaged, it approached RIDA and Insiza Rural District Council seeking permission to rehabilitate it. We sat down as council and saw it fit to let them do that,” the Insiza RDC chairman said.

“The road was damaged by trucks and was no longer user-friendly.”

He urged other mining companies to consider similar infrastructure investments, adding: “We would like to thank FS Mining for their support. They have left a legacy.”

RIDA also highlighted the wider significance of the route, which connects the southern and northern parts of Insiza District.

“The road connects the southern part of the district to the northern part of the district. This road was damaged due to a number of issues, such as heavy rains and trucks,” a RIDA representative said.

“It was a collaborative effort between FS Mining, RIDA and our local authority. FS Mining funded the project. There was regravelling of 22 kilometres.”

With the rehabilitation now complete, attention is shifting towards protecting the infrastructure from further deterioration.

“Roads need to be maintained, so we would like the communities and local authority to take care of it,” the RIDA representative said.

The call is particularly relevant given that heavy vehicles and weather were among the factors previously blamed for the road’s deterioration, leaving communities and the local authority with a shared responsibility for maintaining the upgraded route.

Zimplats has gained access to about US$46.5 million of local-currency funds that had previously been inaccessible under Zimbabwe’s foreign-currency retention framework, easing a longstanding cash constraint at the platinum producer, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

The development was disclosed by parent company Impala Platinum Holdings at its Capital Markets Day, where it revealed that Zimplats started the financial year with about US$60 million in local-currency funds that had historically been inaccessible, before gaining access to about US$46.5 million by year-end.

The development comes against a longstanding complaint from Zimbabwe’s mining industry over delays in accessing the local-currency portion of export earnings surrendered under the foreign-exchange regime.

Under the framework, exporters surrender 30% of their foreign-currency earnings in exchange for local currency. For miners, delays in receiving those proceeds can leave funds tied up while companies continue to meet domestic operating costs and other obligations.

The scale of the challenge was evident at the end of December 2025, when Zimplats had US$78.1 million sitting in a deferred liquidation account, reflecting funds awaiting release under the retention system.

Against that backdrop, the latest disclosure indicates that a substantial portion of the funds that had historically been inaccessible was subsequently made available to the company. The balance remaining at year-end largely comprised newer proceeds generated under the retention framework and expected to be used going forward.

The improved access gives Zimplats greater flexibility to meet local obligations and manage working capital from funds generated by its Zimbabwean operations.

That improvement also has wider relevance for the mining industry, where producers have repeatedly raised concerns over the timing and availability of funds surrendered under Zimbabwe’s foreign-exchange regime.

For Zimplats, the change reduces the amount of export proceeds tied up under the retention system and gives the company greater control over cash generated by its Zimbabwean operations.

Zimbabwe’s small-scale mining sector can strengthen its contribution to the country’s Vision 2030 ambitions by embracing responsible mining, formalisation and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles, Zimbabwe Mining Safety, Health and Environmental Council (ZIMSHEC) Executive Director and Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Midlands Chairman Makumba Nyenje has said.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

Speaking at the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) 2026 in Bulawayo, Nyenje encouraged miners to learn from established mining operations that have developed strong environmental and social systems, saying such practices could provide useful lessons for the continued transformation of Zimbabwe’s small-scale mining sector.

His intervention was delivered both from the perspective of an organisation focused on mining safety and responsible operations and as a representative of the small-scale mining constituency through his role as ZMF Midlands chairman.

Nyenje said a recent visit to a mining operation in Zvishavane had demonstrated the progress that could be achieved when ESG considerations are incorporated into mining operations.

“I would like to applaud the big miners, the big mines,” Nyenje said. “We have come on board, especially those doing critical minerals. They have demonstrated that they are upholding the environmental, social and governance systems, the new phenomenon which is being pushed by the Minister of Mines and Mining Development.”

He said the visit had provided practical lessons that could be adopted across the mining industry, including by artisanal and small-scale operators.

“What we saw there is actually a big eye-opener, especially to the mining fraternity,” he said. “They are observing the highest level of environmental, social and governance. I think there are great lessons or great key takeaways for artisanal and small-scale miners for us to emulate them.”

Rather than presenting ESG as a burden on smaller operators, Nyenje said responsible mining should form part of the sector’s transformation as miners seek to build sustainable businesses and strengthen their relationship with communities.

“It is of paramount importance that as small-scale miners we uphold issues to do with environmental, social and governance,” he said. “So much so that those communities living around our areas where we are doing mining, they also appreciate that we are positively impacting on their lives.”

Nyenje linked the adoption of responsible mining practices directly to the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale mining.

“In our bid to turn around the artisanal and small-scale mining sector to formalise, we would want them also to uphold basic tenets of responsible mining towards sustainable mining practices,” he said. “You cannot achieve that if you are not embracing environmental, social and governance at your mining places.”

He proposed that individual mining operations should begin developing specialised capacity to help improve standards across the sector.

“Every miner, every artisanal and small-scale miner, should at least have one specialist specialising in these issues, so much so that our levels get transformed into those of law-abiding miners,” Nyenje said.

The approach, he suggested, would help miners develop greater capacity around areas such as safety, environmental management and regulatory compliance while contributing to the broader professionalisation of the sector.

Small-scale miners part of Vision 2030

A central part of Nyenje’s message was that Zimbabwe’s small-scale miners should not view the country’s national development agenda as something separate from their own activities.

Instead, he urged the sector to see itself as an important participant in the government’s Vision 2030 programme.

“We don’t want to leave behind every miner towards Vision 2030 and beyond,” he said. “We foresee ourselves also augmenting efforts by the government, NDS2 and other strategies to come.”

Nyenje said the development of Zimbabwe’s mining economy would require the participation of miners across the sector.

“We know they are coming because we want to grow the mining economy, we want to impact positively towards development of this country,” he said.

He therefore encouraged small-scale miners to position themselves to participate in the country’s broader economic transformation.

“We want to encourage all small-scale miners not to be left behind or not to lag behind,” he said. “We want them to go with the mantra: Vision 2030 and beyond.”

The comments also reinforce the role of small-scale mining within Zimbabwe’s wider mining development strategy, particularly as the sector continues to contribute significantly to mineral production and provides livelihoods across mining communities.

For Nyenje, the opportunity is for small-scale miners to take lessons from operations that have already developed stronger ESG systems and adapt those practices to their own circumstances.

His message at ZAMI 2026 was ultimately one of inclusion: as Zimbabwe works towards Vision 2030, the transformation of the mining industry should involve miners at every level.

Small-scale miners, he said, have a role to play in building a more formal, responsible and sustainable mining industry — and in ensuring that the country’s mineral wealth contributes to development beyond the present generation.

Zimbabwe must bring artisanal and small-scale miners into its emerging critical-minerals value chains if responsible mining standards are to extend across the sector, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation (ZELO) says.

By Ryan Chigoche

The call comes as Harare seeks to turn its lithium, nickel, copper, graphite and platinum-group metals into greater investment, processing and value addition, amid a global push to secure energy-transition minerals.

Lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and copper are among those the International Energy Agency identifies as underpinning clean-energy technologies; PGMs also feature in emerging energy applications.

The country is already a significant producer. The US Geological Survey ranked it third globally for platinum and fourth for lithium and palladium in 2024, with nickel, copper and cobalt also produced.

Artisanal and small-scale mining, however, remains a major part of the sector, involving an estimated one million people. That gives ASM a direct stake in the opportunity and raises the question of how smaller producers will fit into the formal supply chains Zimbabwe is seeking to develop.

Speaking during an ESG and Responsible Mining sub-session at the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba, ZELO Deputy Director Shamiso Mtisi said ASM should form part of these value chains.

“It is important to recognise that the ASM can also play a role in advancing responsible mining standards. Its integration into the critical minerals value chain also remains a key area for us to work on,” Mtisi said.

He pointed to partnerships with large-scale companies as a practical route for bringing smaller operators into more structured production.

“This can be achieved through establishing partnerships between artisanal small-scale miners and large-scale miners,” Mtisi said.

For him, however, integration should go beyond formal recognition. It should also ensure that ASM operations meet environmental, social and governance requirements.

“So, it’s about how do you formalize artisanal mining, and how do you make sure that the artisanal miners also adopt systems and processes that respect the environment, that respect social aspects, that also promote governance issues, and so on,” he said.

That is becoming more relevant as markets place greater emphasis on resilient, transparent and traceable supply chains. The IEA says the ability to track where minerals originate, how they move and who has custody of them is ever more important as countries seek more diversified and responsible supplies. Its 2026 analysis covers copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements.

For Zimbabwe, that puts ESG alongside geology, processing capacity and investment as the country seeks to convert its mineral endowment into internationally competitive supply chains.

The stakes are high. Mining accounts for more than 80% of exports, 19% of government revenues and 12% of GDP, according to figures cited during the discussions—making new value chains important well beyond individual operations.

Zimbabwe has already begun moving up the chain in some minerals. Under National Development Strategy 2, the government is prioritising further beneficiation of lithium into lithium salts, while seeking to move from lithium sulphate towards lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, key components in battery manufacturing. The same strategy targets deeper PGM beneficiation, beyond matte towards platinum, palladium and rhodium.

Mtisi also linked responsible development to water security, climate change and land use, highlighting the environmental pressures that could accompany increased mining.

ZELO is working on just transition and climate-resilient pathways for Zimbabwe, including technical support on ESG and responsible sourcing, water-demand management and policy engagement. It is also working on community monitoring and plans to support water access in mining areas facing water stress.

As Zimbabwe positions itself in highly competitive supply chains, integrating ASM would bring smaller producers into the same responsible-production framework being developed around the country’s broader mineral strategy.

Kamativi Mining Company (KMC) says it is rehabilitating old mine pits while continuing its lithium mining operations at Kamativi, with the company also planning to plant 10,000 trees this year as part of its environmental management programme, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

Speaking at the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) 2026 in Bulawayo, KMC Social Responsibility Officer Mehluli Moyo said the company was dealing with environmental liabilities left by previous mining activities at the historic Kamativi mine.

“Kamativi is not a new mine as you speak. It was previously mined in other basements before, so there were some old pits that were still in existence,” Moyo said.

Kamativi, in Matabeleland North Province, has a long mining history dating back to the development of its tin operations in the 20th century. The mine later closed before activity resumed, with the operation now focused on lithium.

Moyo said KMC had incorporated rehabilitation into its ongoing mining activities, including the restoration of pits that have already been mined out.

“Since we started mining from the old pits and recovering lithium, we are now in the process of rehabilitating all the mined pits,” he said.

“As we are continuing mining, we are currently also rehabilitating the old pits that we have mined out already.”

He acknowledged that historical mining had left a number of open pits and areas of environmental degradation at the site.

“A lot of mined pits were left open and a lot of environmental degradation has happened,” Moyo said.

As part of the rehabilitation programme, KMC plans to plant 10,000 trees this year.

“This year we have also planned to plant 10,000 trees in those areas. This is part of our rehabilitation plan,” he said.

Moyo also outlined measures being taken by the company to reduce its reliance on surface water.

He said KMC was recycling water used in its operations, reducing the amount of surface water required for mining activities.

“The water that we use, we are recycling the water, which has also contributed much that we are no longer using much of the surface water that we drain for our operations,” he said.

The company is also using water from old underground mine workings.

“We have an underground pit that is an old mine, we also utilise in pumping out that water for our operations, which also saves the surface water that we can share with the communities,” Moyo said.

Moyo said the company’s environmental management policy was aimed at ensuring that areas affected by mining were left in a condition suitable for future use.

“In terms of our environmental management policy, we are making sure that where we have worked, we leave the environment in a very good shape, in a very good state,” he said.

He said the company had put measures in place to manage the environmental impacts associated with mining activities, including the use of heavy machinery and blasting.

“Regardless that we are using machinery to mine, we are blasting and so forth, we have worked on so many categories to make sure that our environmental protection plan is implemented,” Moyo said.

The rehabilitation programme comes as environmental management remains a major issue in Zimbabwe’s mining sector, particularly around the restoration of land affected by historical and ongoing mining activities.

For KMC, Moyo said rehabilitation was being undertaken alongside mining rather than being left until the end of the operation.

Zulu Lithium says it is increasing water recycling and seeking to limit its impact on local water systems as it develops its lithium operation in water-scarce Insiza District, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

Prosper Muhoni, representing Zulu Lithium, said the company had recognised water availability as one of the key challenges facing the operation and was putting measures in place to reduce its dependence on fresh water.

“We realised that we are actually located in a region where water is very scarce,” Muhoni said. “And despite that, we also need it for our operation.”

Speaking during the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba in Bulawayo, Muhoni said the operation had constructed a water storage dam and was using recycling systems to reduce the amount of fresh water required by the processing operation.

He said the company was also seeking to ensure that mining activities did not interfere with water sources used by surrounding communities.

“We also make sure that we do not disrupt the natural flow of the river, because the community was actually benefiting from it,” Muhoni said.

The operation has installed a dissolved air flotation plant as part of its water-management system, with recycled water being used for activities including cooling, cleaning and terrain management.

Muhoni said water recovered through the operation would also be reused in the processing plant, reducing the volume of fresh water that would have to be drawn from the site’s storage facilities.

However, the exact proportions of recycled and fresh water cited during the presentation require clarification before publication, as the figures given in the presentation appeared inconsistent.

Water management is also linked to the company’s plans to relocate families whose homes are affected by the mining operation.

Muhoni said the company had considered access to water when identifying relocation areas, with families being moved to locations where dams were available.

“Working with ZELA and others, those people complained that this is going to affect us when you move us from this place to the other,” he said, referring to concerns raised over water availability and potential pollution.

“We made sure that when we relocated them, we situated locations where there are dams.”

Muhoni also disclosed that the company was considering diverting a river, with an Environmental Impact Assessment underway and local authorities engaged in the process.

The river-diversion plan could become one of the project’s most significant water-management interventions, given the dependence of surrounding communities on local water systems.

Muhoni said Zulu Lithium was also developing its approach to mine rehabilitation, although he acknowledged that the operation was still at an early stage.

“As far as rehabilitation is concerned, yes, we are still starting,” he said. “But we’re actually going to make sure that we follow through our framework and what we’ve standardised and established in our EMP.”

He said the company was working to secure funding for rehabilitation so that resources would be available when rehabilitation work becomes necessary.

The presentation comes as Zimbabwe’s mining sector faces growing pressure to demonstrate how new operations will manage water, environmental impacts and community displacement alongside production.

For Zulu Lithium, the immediate challenge is to balance the water requirements of a processing operation with the needs of communities and ecosystems in an area Muhoni himself described as water scarce.

Caledonia Mining is moving towards securing the remaining financing required to develop its US$600 million Bilboes gold project in Zimbabwe, with a US$150 million interim bank facility expected to be concluded as early as October, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

The VFEX- and Toronto-listed gold producer said funding arrangements for the project were progressing, with a combination of existing cash, debt and cash flows from its Blanket Mine expected to cover the development programme.

Speaking at the company’s capital markets day in New York, Caledonia chief financial officer Ross Jerrard said the company was in the final stages of due diligence and documentation for the interim facility.

The facility could involve up to eight banks from Zimbabwe and South Africa and would be secured against cash flows from Blanket, providing bridge financing while Caledonia finalises longer-term project finance for Bilboes.

“We are in the final stages … with the facility imminent, and hopefully we will get that closed in October 2026,” Jerrard said.

Caledonia estimates total project expenditure at just under US$600 million once interest and working capital requirements are included.

The company raised US$150 million through a seven-year convertible bond in January, leaving between US$263 million and US$303 million to be sourced through senior debt and other financing arrangements.

The amount still required will depend partly on the gold price and the cash generated by Blanket.

At a gold price of US$3,500 an ounce, Blanket is expected to contribute about US$115 million towards the Bilboes funding requirement. That contribution rises to approximately US$155 million if gold averages US$4,000 an ounce.

Caledonia also has US$172 million in cash.

Jerrard said discussions with regional and international financial institutions on longer-term project financing were already well advanced, with the company targeting completion within six to nine months.

Unlike the interim facility, the longer-term debt will be secured against Bilboes and is expected to replace the bridge financing.

Construction funding

Caledonia has also put in place a hedge covering its share of Blanket’s gold production from January 2026 to December 2028, with a floor price of US$3,500 an ounce.

Jerrard described the arrangement as providing protection for Blanket’s cash generation during the Bilboes construction period while retaining exposure to gold prices above the hedge floor.

The hedge also strengthens the company’s ability to raise debt from banks, he said.

For Caledonia, securing funding early is important because delays could affect the economics of Bilboes, particularly by disrupting procurement of long-lead equipment and the construction schedule.

Executive director Victor Gapare said project execution remained a key risk, although the company had incorporated contingencies into its capital cost estimates and was engaging contractors ahead of construction.

Chief executive Mark Learmonth said procurement was already underway, with more definitive project costs expected by November.

Gapare said the company had subjected the project to extensive analysis before proceeding with its development plans.

Meanwhile, Caledonia is working to improve production and reduce costs at Blanket as the mine continues to provide cash to support the wider growth strategy.

The company said costs had increased as Blanket had become deeper and expanded underground operations. Lower grades and the increasing depth of the mine have also weighed on gold production and pushed unit costs higher.

Caledonia introduced a seven-day shift system in June, which Learmonth said had increased run-of-mine capacity by about 100,000 tonnes a year without requiring additional capital expenditure.

The company has also reduced overtime costs by about 50% between May and June and rebuilt broken-ore stockpiles.

Processing plant upgrades are expected to allow Blanket to handle additional ore and could increase annual gold production by about 8,000 ounces.

Learmonth said management was concentrating on areas within its control, including labour productivity, electricity consumption and the use of consumables.

The measures at Blanket are expected to support cash generation as Caledonia advances the financing and construction programme for Bilboes, one of the company’s key growth projects in Zimbabwe.