ZIMBABWE’S gold potential is being left largely untapped, with the country’s 46 tonnes of annual production dwarfed by the 300 tonnes achieved by geologically identical terrain in Western Australia, a gap that represents billions of dollars in lost opportunity, Geological Survey of Zimbabwe Director Forbes Mugumbate has said.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the Chamber of Mines Gold Symposium, Mugumbate delivered a compelling case for why Zimbabwe should be producing far more gold, drawing on striking geological parallels between the Zimbabwe Craton and Australia’s Yilgarn Craton.
“In 1980, the production was almost the same, averaging 30 tonnes per year, Zimbabwe Craton and Yilgarn, the same, because the geology is almost the same,” Mugumbate said.
“From a geological perspective, we think these two cratons were one super-craton that then separated in geological time. Geology has no boundaries. There’s no reason why our geological environment cannot be producing as much as what is being produced.”
46 tonnes versus 300 tonnes
Fast forward to 2025, and the picture could not be more different. Zimbabwe produced 46.7 tonnes of gold, while the Yilgarn Craton, home to Western Australia’s legendary goldfields, produced an estimated 300 tonnes.
“So you can see now the difference. From 1980, the same production, through to 2025, 300 tonnes versus 46 tonnes,” Mugumbate said.
“All I can say is that that difference shows the potential that Zimbabwe has. Between 300 tonnes and 46 tonnes, it’s potential. We need to pursue that potential.”
The geological connection is well documented. Paleogeographic reconstructions show that around 2.6 billion years ago, the Zimbabwe Craton and Australia’s Yilgarn Craton were likely part of the same Archean super-craton, known as the Zimgarn Craton. The two cratons share striking geological similarities, hosting the same tectonic histories, geological settings and granite-greenstone lithostratigraphy.
Little exploration over two decades
Mugumbate lamented that Zimbabwe has seen very little exploration over the past two decades, leaving the country chronically underexplored despite its rich mineral endowment.
“Zimbabwe is underexplored—we have had so many politicians talk about Zimbabwe being underexplored, NDS1, NDS2,” he said.
He noted that President Mnangagwa’s 2017 declaration at Davos that “Zimbabwe is open for business” should have catalysed exploration activity, but the necessary groundwork and preparation have not materialised.
Ancient mines and greenfields potential
The Geological Survey Director pointed out that exploration has largely been confined to areas around ancient mines discovered before the 6th century.
“The ancients had discovered more than 5,000 gold deposits. And exploration has been going around these. We’ve just been rediscovering some of these,” he said.
This leaves vast areas untouched. Mugumbate noted that only a few greenfields discoveries have been made in recent decades, citing Maligreen and Dokwe as rare examples of previously unknown gold areas.
“Right now, we’ve only discovered Maligreen and Dokwe. These are probably the only gold mines that have been discovered in what were previously greenfields,” he said.
“So it means, again, there’s potential for lots of greenfields—areas that we never used to know as gold areas are potentially now becoming known for gold. These are, again, areas for exploration. Non-traditional exploration areas.”
The missing middle
Mugumbate also highlighted a significant gap in Zimbabwe’s mining sector between thousands of artisanal miners and a few large-scale operations.
“In Zimbabwe, we have only a very few big mines. There are thousands of artisanal miners and a gap between these,” he said.
“We need a continuous line that joins up the artisanal miners to the biggest mine. So this gap simply means that most of these small mines should be explored to join up the mine-size gradient between the very small mines. Again, it’s a sign of great potential.”
Mugumbate concluded with an unambiguous message: Zimbabwe has the geology, the history and the potential to rival the world’s best gold-producing regions.
“Given the right environment, there’s really lots of potential for the discovery of gold mines in Zimbabwe,” he said.
