Mining ZimbabweLatest Mining News, Policy and Industry Updates

Pacific Goal Investments (Private) Limited (PGI) has formally assumed majority ownership and operational control of the Muchesu coal project in north-western Zimbabwe after securing registration from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), Mining Zimbabwe reports.

By Ryan Chigoche

The approval finalises the restructuring of a July 2024 agreement in which Huo Investments had undertaken to acquire a controlling stake in Monaf Investments, the entity holding the Muchesu mining licence, and commit up to US$20 million toward production expansion and infrastructure upgrades.

Those rights and obligations, including the US$20 million funding facility, were subsequently transferred to PGI.

PGI now holds 51 per cent of Monaf and is responsible for managing operations at Muchesu. Contango Holdings Plc retains a 24 per cent stake, with the remainder held by minority shareholders.

The structure safeguards Contango’s royalty position, which guarantees a minimum annual payment of US$2 million, while shifting operational execution to the new majority shareholder.

The RBZ registration is a critical compliance milestone in Zimbabwe’s mining sector, particularly where offshore-linked capital and funding facilities are involved. It provides regulatory certainty and effectively clears the path for capital deployment under the agreed financing framework.

“The board views these changes as an important step in aligning the project with a committed operator that has a meaningful in-country footprint, while preserving the company’s royalty and debt-repayment economics,” said Contango chairperson Gordon Thompson in a statement accompanying the company’s interim results for the six months to November 30, 2025.

Chief executive Daniel Dos Santos described the development as a structural evolution of the partnership.

“We view this as an important evolution in the partnership structure, introducing a group with an established operational footprint in Zimbabwe that is complementary to the long-term development of Muchesu,” he said.

Spanning over 19,000 hectares in the Mid-Zambezi Karoo Basin within the Hwange mining district, Muchesu hosts both thermal and coking coal resources.

Expansion plans include installing additional coke ovens to strengthen metallurgical coal processing capacity, a move expected to enhance value retention within the domestic coal value chain.

For Contango, the arrangement reflects a shift toward a royalty-backed exposure model, allowing the company to retain financial upside through structured payments while entrusting operational scaling to PGI.

The focus now shifts to execution, particularly whether the capital injection will translate into sustained production growth, expanded processing capacity, and a stronger position for Muchesu within Zimbabwe’s coal industry.

Beyond the ownership restructuring, the development carries broader implications for Zimbabwe’s energy security. Coal remains the backbone of thermal power generation at Hwange Power Station under ZESA Holdings.

If PGI executes the US$20 million expansion programme originally committed under the July 2024 agreement and later transferred during the restructuring, Muchesu could emerge as a stronger secondary coal supplier within the Hwange district, widening Zimbabwe’s coal supply base while reinforcing feedstock security for power generation and metallurgical processing.

With energy reliability remaining central to economic stability, the project’s trajectory now carries significance beyond its revised shareholding structure.

In a move to protect Zimbabwe’s endangered water bodies, Cabinet has received and approved a progress report on the nationwide ban on alluvial mining, signalling a shift from enforcement to active rehabilitation, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Rudairo Mapuranga

Briefing the media on Tuesday, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Honourable Zhemu Soda, announced that while the ban is holding, the Government is now laser-focused on restoring degraded river ecosystems and has approved a new legislative framework to accelerate the process.

Presenting the report on behalf of the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Honourable Anxious Masuka, Minister Soda revealed that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Ban on Alluvial Mining has successfully implemented a “Whole-of-Government” compliance system. This strategy has ensured sustained enforcement of Statutory Instrument 188 of 2024, which imposed a total ban on riverbed mining.

“Reports indicate that in all the alluvial mining-prone provinces, active mechanised alluvial mining has largely been halted,” Minister Soda stated. He noted that sustained efforts are currently underway to eliminate the lingering threat of local illegal miners who continue to invade previously mined areas, with crack teams deployed to combat the destruction of riverine ecosystems.

Introducing the ‘Polluter Pays’ Principle

With active mining significantly curtailed, the Government is pivoting to environmental clean-up. Cabinet has approved the strengthening of the legislative framework to accelerate the river rehabilitation process. A key component of this new phase is the invocation of the “Polluter Pays Principle,” which holds perpetrators financially accountable for the damage they have caused.

“Since alluvial mining has largely ceased, attention has now shifted to the rehabilitation of degraded sites, with liability for the rehabilitation being borne by the perpetrators,” Minister Soda explained. The Government is expediting legislative reforms to ensure environmental justice and accountability, ensuring that those who destroyed the rivers are responsible for fixing them.

Provincial Focus and Ongoing Enforcement

The updated report provided a provincial breakdown of the damage and the work ahead. According to briefings from previous Cabinet updates, provinces like Matabeleland North and Masvingo have experienced some of the most severe river siltation, which has contributed to a national water crisis. While active mining has stopped in most areas, the rehabilitation efforts will be concentrated where degradation is most acute.

The Government has maintained a tough stance on violators. Earlier enforcement efforts following the ban in August 2024 led to over 300 arrests across the country, with offenders facing penalties of up to 12 months’ imprisonment and fines of no less than US$5,000. Minister Soda reaffirmed that monitoring and evaluation mechanisms remain heightened to prevent any resurgence of these destructive activities.

While the Cabinet has approved a Government-led rehabilitation framework, efforts to heal the land are also taking root at the community level. In Gwanda District, for example, initiatives supported by the Dabane Trust and international partners like LIMCOM and UNDP are seeing local communities build erosion control barriers and plant trees to reclaim degraded land in the Limpopo Basin. These grassroots efforts are seen as complementary models for sustainable land management.

As the new “Polluter Pays” legislative framework is developed, stakeholders are calling for open and competitive procurement to ensure the credibility and success of the national river restoration programme.

Cabinet remains committed to protecting Zimbabwe’s natural heritage, with Minister Soda emphasising that this clampdown and the subsequent rehabilitation mark a decisive step towards environmental accountability and sustainable development.

Gold climbed to a one-month high on Monday as escalating conflict between the United States and Iran triggered a fresh wave of safe-haven buying, reinforcing bullish forecasts from major banks that see the metal heading toward record territory, Mining Zimbabwe can report.

By Ryan Chigoche

Spot gold surged as much as 2.9% to trade above US$5,400 an ounce, its strongest level since the late-January sell-off, before trimming gains as US markets opened.

The rally builds on a year in which bullion has already advanced nearly 25% in the first two months, underscoring sustained investor appetite for defensive assets.

The latest leg higher follows military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Tehran’s retaliatory missile attacks across the region have raised fears of a broader and prolonged war, prompting investors to reduce exposure to risk assets and rotate into gold.

Beyond sentiment, the conflict carries tangible implications for physical bullion trade.

The United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai, is one of the world’s most important gold trading and transit hubs. Large volumes of bullion pass through Dubai en route from London, the dominant over-the-counter trading centre, to key consuming markets such as India and China.

Airspace restrictions and suspended flights in the Gulf have temporarily disrupted cargo flows, complicating logistics for traders.

While the interruptions are expected to be short-term, any prolonged disruption to flights through Dubai could tighten supply in Asian markets and add further upward pressure to prices.

The renewed surge in bullion strengthens the case made by major financial institutions that gold could revisit — and potentially exceed — record highs.

Bank of America expects prices to reach US$6,000 an ounce within the next 12 months, citing geopolitical instability and continued central bank buying. JPMorgan has raised its long-term forecast to US$4,500 an ounce and maintained a year-end target of US$6,300.

For Zimbabwe, where gold remains the country’s largest single foreign currency earner, sustained prices above US$5,000 per ounce would significantly enhance export receipts and producer margins.

A move toward the US$6,000 mark, if realised, could further stimulate exploration spending and production growth across the sector.

For now, the market remains focused on whether the conflict escalates further. But with bullion sitting at a one-month high and global banks projecting record levels, gold’s safe-haven status is once again driving momentum, and the war in the Middle East may yet prove a catalyst for the next leg higher.