Zimbabwe Ministry Heralds Plans to Boost Gold Production and Seal Leakages

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in Zimbabwe announced plans to ramp up gold production in the country. At the same time, it intends to take strict measures to prevent leakages. The initiatives were announced by Minister Winston Chitando during a workshop organized jointly by the Ministry and key stakeholders in the country’s gold sector.

According to the Minister, mining sector is projected as the key contributor to the country’s economy by 2030. Keeping this in mind, the government has initiated steps to boost gold production in the country. The country has set a gold production target of 40 tonnes for the current year and 100 tonnes by 2023, he said.

The Government has decided to empower the technical taskforce, who will work in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to increase surveillance in order to reduce leakages. The taskforce plans to send 20 teams to all the eight gold producing provinces of the country. It is estimated that the country loses millions of dollars of annual revenue through side marketing of gold. Incidentally, underground production and subsequent smuggling of gold have made Zimbabwe lose huge sums of money in unpaid tax.

Meantime, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) declared that it plans to establish more number of gold facilities to assist small scale miners in the country. Further, it will add to its gold reserves, as part of efforts to establish economic and financial stability.