Not feasible to meet ambitious gold target

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Government has admitted that it is no longer feasible to achieve the ambitious 42-tonne gold target set for the gold sub-sector  this year, due to numerous headwinds, Business Times can report.

The admission follows the delivery of 26.17 tonnes by gold miners in the first 10 months of this year to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), the country’s only purchaser and marketer of the yellow metal.

Speaking at the 2024 pre-budget seminar, Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Mthuli Ncube acknowledged that it was now difficult to expect the miners to meet the challenging goal with two months left in the year. He stated that the government has now set a new  target for the gold subsector, which is 36 tonnes. “We have set a new target of gold deliveries at 36 tonnes from the initial target of 42 tonnes due to heavy rains during the first two months of 2023,” Ncube said.

According to Irvine Chinyenze, CEO of the Gold Miners Association of Zimbabwe, the government ought to take more action to boost the country’s output. “A miner needs instant payment to increase production hence he will go to an unlicenced  gold dealer to get spot payments. As long as the government takes a long time to dispatch many gold dealers in the field to purchase gold, the deliveries to Fidelity will remain low,” Chinyenza said.

In order to incentivize the primary producers, he suggested that the government give them half of their earnings in cash.