ZIMBABWE has licensed a second gold refinery to process the country’s rising precious metals output, with the facility set to be commissioned in Bulawayo next year.
The move reflects growing pressure on state-owned Fidelity Gold Refinery, which currently handles all of Zimbabwe’s gold sales but is unlikely to cope with projected production. Zimbabwe is targeting output of 50 tons this year, up from a record 46.7t in 2025. Production has more than doubled over the past decade.
Government officials, who declined to be identified discussing a confidential matter, told Bloomberg News the investors behind the new refinery would only be named once it is commissioned. Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Mines declined to comment, it said.
The 130% improvement in the gold price in the last three years has encouraged new sources of production from the Southern African nation. Zimbabwe’s state-owned Mutapa Gold Resources plans to double annual production to 220,000 ounces by 2029, backed by funding secured for expansion projects at two of its mines, said Reuters earlier this month.
Mutapa, Zimbabwe’s largest gold producer and a subsidiary of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, produced 104,626 oz in the financial year to March 2025, a 10% decline on the prior year due to lower ore grades, the newswire said.
Another prominent gold miner in Zimbabwe is Caledonia Mining Company Mining which in January secured $150m through a seven-year convertible bond offering in order to finance its Bilboes development, set to become Zimbabwe’s largest gold operation.
Production at Bilboes is scheduled to commence in late 2028, with annual output projected to reach 200,000 oz from 2029 for an initial decade.
