Zimbabwe’s gold production increased by 36 percent to 3,4 tonnes in August from 2,5 tonnes in the previous month, the latest official figures show.
According to the country’s exclusive buyer of the yellow metal, Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), artisanal and small-scale miners delivered 2,4 tonnes of the precious mineral, representing a 50 percent jump from the July figure of 1,6 tonnes.
Artisanal and small-scale miners account for an average of 60 percent of the country’s annual gold output.
During the period under review, large-scale producers’ output increased to one tonne from 999 kilo grammes in July.
The remarkable increase in the mineral’s output is largely attributed to the recent scrapping of the 15 percent value-added tax (VAT) on gold deliveries by the Treasury.
“We can attribute the sharp increase in gold deliveries to the reversal of the 15 percent VAT on gold deliveries, so the miners have been sort of incentivized.
“Going forward if there are no other challenges such as electricity, we are likely to see the miners sustaining increased production and the 40-tonne target, though it’s still too early to comment about it. It may be achieved,” an economic commentator, Ms Wendy Mpofu, said in an interview over the phone yesterday.
The tax was scrapped through Statutory Instrument (SI) 105 of 2024.
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The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe is on record stating that prior to the scrapping of the 15 percent VAT on gold, the policy was promoting side-marketing of the precious mineral.
This latest increase follows a strong performance in the second quarter of the year where gold deliveries improved by over 28 percent compared to the prior quarter.
Total gold production output in the second quarter amounted to 7,7 tonnes up from 6 tonnes in the first quarter.
Gold is the country’s largest single export earner from which the Government targets 40 tonnes this year from 30,1 tonnes in 2023.
By next year, the yellow metal is expected to generate US$4 billion from around US$3 billion currently.
Mining accounts for more than three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s export earnings.
The Southern African nation has more than 60 mineral occurrences, but less than 10 are currently being commercially exploited.
