Zimbabwe’s gold export receipts increased 123% to US$463.1m in the first quarter of this year from US$207.23m in the prior comparative period owing to firming commodity prices on the international market.
It came after gold deliveries for the period under review jumped 92% to 7.695 tonnes from 4.016 tonnes in the comparable period.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya said the spike in international gold prices has pushed the export receipts for the country.
“If the current trend continues, the bullion is poised to reach impressive figures of above US$2bn by year end,” Mangudya said.
He said there was a combination of both good gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refineries (FPR) and firming international prices.
The March 2022 gold output spiked 39% to 2.564 tonnes from 1.8 tonnes achieved during the comparable period following the 5% mining incentives put in place by the central bank.
FPR acting general manager Peter Magaramombe said the country should capitalise on international gold prices to ramp up production.
“There is a huge need to ramp up production following the firm commodity prices on the international market,” Magaramombe said.
Of the 7.695 tonnes delivered during the first quarter of 2022, small scale miners delivered 4.949 tonnes against 2.746 tonnes from large scale miners.
The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe chief executive officer Isaac Kwesu said various miners were riding on the current strong mineral prices hence strong investments are needed.
“Miners should invest wisely on the proceeds of the good prices that have characterised the country’s mining industry,” Kwesu said.
He said though the output is fairly good, there is still a long way to go to achieve an average of 8.3 tonnes per month to reach 100 tonnes a year. – (Business Times)