Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
GOLD deliveries to Zimbabwe’s sole buyer of bullion, Fidelity Gold Refinery, declined by 13,45 percent to 19,33 tonnes in the first eight months of 2023, latest statistics show.
Miners, on the other hand, are sure that they will exceed the 35,38 tonnes produced last year and help the country fulfill its objective of 40 tonnes.
During the period under review, small-scale miners contributed 60 percent of all deliveries, at 11,66 tonnes, with large-scale producers bringing in 40 percent — 7,66 tonnes.
Gold Miners Association of Zimbabwe’s chief executive officer, Irvine Chinyenze, said a lot needs to change for the country’s gold production to improve.
“With regards to capitalisation, the small-scale miners are hamstrung to finance their activities since there is no collateral and they have also been faced with increased production costs due to unfair pricing of inputs.
“Uncertainty associated with an election year also affected gold production,” he said.
“Those variables are supposed to change in a positive way, but if not, gold production will remain constant. We have the election season out of the way, which has impacted operations.
“We have seen the new government envisaging a continued or better policy that will promote the growth of the gold sector,” Chinyenze added.
Along with tobacco and platinum, gold is one of Zimbabwe’s main sources of foreign exchange.
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