Mutapa Gold Resources Ltd. will commence construction of its flagship US$152 million Shamva Hill Project next month, marking one of Zimbabwe’s largest single mining investments in recent years and a cornerstone of the state-owned producer’s plan to double annual output by 2029, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The project, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Harare, will develop a new two-million-tonne-per-year open-pit mine and dedicated processing plant at the Shamva operation. The company has secured US$75 million in first-stage financing from a consortium of four domestic banks – CBZ Bank, Ecobank, CABS and NMB Bank – with negotiations ongoing with international financiers for the remaining capital requirement.
“We initially approached the market seeking US$75 million. A consortium of four banks came together and raised the amount,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya said in a presentation on the company’s three-year growth plan. “Since then, other banks have indicated interest in participating, meaning we could ultimately raise as much as US$100 million from local financial institutions.”
Shamva currently produces about 66 kilograms of gold per month, with ore trucked for processing at Freda Rebecca’s plant. The Shamva Hill Project will eliminate this bottleneck, boosting monthly output to 200 kilograms.
The project’s impact ripples across Mutapa’s portfolio. Once Shamva processes its own ore, Freda Rebecca’s 2.8 million-tonne-per-annum plant will be freed to process additional ore from the Freda mine, enabling the operation to increase output from 204 kilograms to 270 kilograms per month.
2029 Target: 570kg per Month
The Shamva Hill Project is the largest component of a three-year expansion programme that includes a US$15 million Phase One expansion at Jena Mine, scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026.
“The picture for us is that, by the end of December 2029, we will be producing around 570 kilograms of gold per month,” Maseva-Shayawabaya said.
Annual production would reach approximately 220,000 ounces, more than double the 104,626 ounces the company produced in the 12 months to March 2026.
