KUVIMBA Mining House, Zimbabwe’s state-controlled gold miner, is negotiating with potential partners for a $150m investment aimed at boosting production 50% at its Shamva mine, said Bloomberg News.
The company has already undertaken feasibility study for a large-scale mine and processing plant, the newswire said citing Kuvimba’s acting CEO, Trevor Barnard. “We are discussing that with potential partners to go forward,” said Barnard.
“This is a resource which is really significant, it’s large, it’s high quality,” he added.
Zimbabwe bought Shamva from Metallon Gold in 2020 as part of push to acquire mining assets in the country. Kuvimba has also rolled out a system, developed by Comstack to track gold output, said Bloomberg News.
“It enhances our gold traceability system from the mine to the market,” he said. “It is important we have regulatory compliance, not only within Zimbabwe but also internationally,” said Barnard.
Gold production has become yet more critical to Zimbabwe’s failing economy following the launch in April of the government’s ZiG currency – short for Zimbabwe Gold – which is backed by 2.5 tons of the precious metal.
Zimbabwe’s central bank has been building gold reserves and acquiring other precious minerals since the introduction of a policy in 2022 that compels miners to pay part of their royalties in cash and metal.
