Cabinet approves four-pillar plan that includes mine-to-market tracking, university-based labs, and mandatory value-added certificates
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has approved a comprehensive framework that will require all mineral exports to meet mandatory local processing standards, establish a real-time tracking system for every consignment, and create a decentralised network of university-based laboratories to certify mineral content, Information Minister Hon. Zhemu Soda announced on Tuesday.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The Minerals Value Chain: From Mining to Beneficiation, Industrialisation and Exportation framework, presented by Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, aims to transform Zimbabwe from a primary resource exporter into a “globally competitive minerals-based industrial manufacturing hub,” Hon. Soda told reporters after the weekly Cabinet briefing.
“The framework seeks, inter alia, to protect the national interest by closing the leakages that have perennially prejudiced the country of huge earnings from its vast mineral wealth,” Hon. Soda said.
Four Pillars
The framework rests on four main pillars:
Mineral-Specific Architecture and Mandatory Standards: Legally binding minimum processing standards will be enforced through a new Value-Added Compliance Certificate required for any export permit.
National Minerals Research and Analytical Laboratory Infrastructure: Government will end reliance on foreign laboratories by establishing a decentralised network of analytical hubs at national universities. Each institution will serve as a dedicated referee for specific mineral clusters, with the University of Zimbabwe as the apex hub for lithium, rare earth elements, and uranium.
Mine-to-Market Operational Control System: A secure, real-time “smart corridor” will track every mineral consignment from extraction to the final port of exit, providing an end-to-end audit trail to prevent leakages and fraud.
Integrated Special Economic Zones: Eight regional mineral beneficiation zones will be strategically positioned across provinces. New investors will be directed to specialised hubs such as the Northern Battery Minerals or Midlands Metallurgical zones.
The framework will be supported by reliable and affordable power supply, energy self-generation incentives for beneficiation projects, and Environmental, Social, and Governance initiatives. The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development will be strengthened to undertake the added responsibilities.
Cabinet also approved a consolidated legal framework to operationalise the mineral value chain, Hon. Soda said.
The approval follows the government’s 25 February suspension of raw lithium and mineral exports and the subsequent imposition of export quotas on six large-scale lithium producers. The new framework extends similar controls across all mineral sectors, including gold, platinum, chrome, diamonds, and coal.
