The Zimbabwean government is determined to reverse years of underinvestment in its gold mines.
Speaking at a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting the chamber of mines chief executive Isaac Kwesu pointed out that the country was lagging way behind in terms of gold exploration.
Great gold potential
Mr Kwesu believes it is essential that Zimbabwe invests in modern exploration techniques and equipment, as its current approaches are limiting the potential to find gold ore deposits. Replacing the country’s old gold mines is seen as vital if new reserves are to be located and successfully mined
He said: “We have significant, extensive gold deposits in Zimbabwe, although we have not been exploring much.
“The country has remained largely under-explored and has not been using modern exploration techniques, thereby limiting the discovery of new, richer deposits and this tends to slow down development and growth of the gold industry to a larger extent.”
Gold should contribute $4bn
Gold output has been disappointing in the past two decades, falling to just 3 tonnes in 2008. However, more vigorous government backing has seen it recover, reaching 35 tonnes in 2018, before slipping back to almost 28 tonnes a year later and sliding to just over 19 tonnes in 2020.
Harare is keen for gold to play a leading role in the Zimbabwean economy, and expects the commodity to account for around US$4bn of the US$12bn mining output by 2023.
