Online Reporter
Oliver Kazunga
FIDELITY Gold Refinery (FGR) is forging ahead with the implementation of strategies, including the establishment of one-stop elution centres across the country this year, to boost production of the yellow metal by artisanal and small-scale miners.
Last year, Zimbabwe’s gold output improved by 21,2 percent to a record high of 36,4 tonnes from which artisanal and small-scale miners, who traditionally produce at least 60 percent of the nation’s output, delivered 23,7 tonnes to FGR.
FGR is the exclusive buyer of the gold produced in the country.
The custom elution service centres the refinery wants to establish are facilities used to rapidly recover gold from activated carbon that absorbs the yellow metal from pregnant leach solutions. This ends up boosting gold production.
In the elution process, gold ore is leached with a cyanide solution, which dissolves it. The pregnant leach solution is passed through activated carbon, which absorbs the gold.
Gold is a key mineral, which, alongside other precious minerals and the United States dollar, back Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), which is the country’s new medium of exchange introduced by monetary authorities in April last year.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced ZiG as part of a broader initiative to address exchange rate volatility, curtail inflation and restore macro-economic stability.
Reserves supporting ZiG, including foreign currency and gold, have increased to US$533 million since President Mnangagwa gave a directive requiring 50 percent of mineral royalties to be paid in kind.
The reserves, which include 2,67 tonnes of gold valued at US$228 million held in the RBZ’s vaults, represent more than three times the amount of the local unit in circulation, a development expected to anchor currency and price stability.
At the time ZiG was launched, the central bank held about 1,5 tonnes of the bullion.
Addressing a strategic meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF), the mother body of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in the country, on Friday, FGR general manager Mr Peter Magaramombe said: “As FGR, we have come up with some strategies in order to continue to support the artisanal and small-scale mining sector.
“In the year 2025, we are going to support more and more of our artisanal and small-scale miners so that they increase gold production and ultimately increase gold deliveries to FGR.
“We are talking in terms of support through things like the compressors, the generators, hammer mills, headgear and consumables.
“Another strategy is to come up with custom elution service centres. Fidelity is going to establish one-stop custom elution service centres, and for starters, we are going to start with Mberengwa, Kadoma and Makaha in Mutoko.
“The number of these custom elution service centres will be increased as the year progresses.”
The services to be offered at the custom elution facilities include assay services, chemical supply services and elution services, as well as gold buying.
This, Mr Magaramombe said, means artisanal and small-scale miners will benefit in that all services, after gold has been extracted, will be offered under one roof, thus reducing some of the risks associated with theft of funds or the yellow metal across the value chain.
He said FGR will this year continue rolling out capacity-building programmes to promote sustainable mining and increased gold production.
“We are also going to increase the number of gold-buying centres that we have. Last year, we had 17 gold-buying centres and we increased them to 20 by the end of the year.
“Our target for 2025 is to open 25 gold-buying centres,” said Mr Magaramombe.
Last year, FGR, through various initiatives, supported over 3 500 artisanal and small-scale miners.
“The results are quite pleasing because this has resulted in increased gold production and this has also ultimately resulted in increased gold deliveries to FGR.”
The FGR boss said the artisanal and small-scale mining industry had also been supported through schemes such as the Gold Initiative Development Fund. Under the fund, players in the sector who faced challenges in accessing mining equipment and machinery were assisted.
Speaking at the same occasion, ZMF president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya challenged artisanal and small-scale miners to continue increasing production while adhering to environmental, social and governance principles to foster sustainable mining across the country.
“As small-scale miners, we are quite privileged to have lived in this era where our contributions are also taken cognisance of and are also considered to be contributions that make up the mainstream economy.
“The gold industry has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. From just the 36 tonnes produced last year, as a country, in terms of monetary value, we generated close to US$2,8 billion.
“Our sector has become so productive that each and every country globally now needs to associate with us as a country,” she said.
