Online Reporter
Business Writer
Zimbabwe’s cumulative four-month gold deliveries edged slightly ahead of last year despite a sharp drop in April volumes, as a booming primary mining sector narrowly offset a steep decline in small-scale output.
According to the latest official data from the Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), total gold deliveries for April 2026 reached 3,324.59 kg, representing a 14,15 percent decline compared to the 3,872.52 kgs during the same month last year.
The monthly drop was driven entirely by the artisanal and small-scale mining sector, which saw its April deliveries plunge by 27,87 percent to 2,110.65 kg, down from 2,926.10 kg in April 2025.
In contrast, large-scale primary producers recorded a 28,27 percent year-on-year increase, pushing their April intake to 1,213.93 kg, up from 946.41 kg.
On a cumulative basis, total gold deliveries for the first four months of the year reached 12,636.51 kg, tracking 1,32 percent ahead of the 12,471.62 kg delivered during the January-to-April period in 2025.
Gold is strategically vital to Zimbabwe as the cornerstone of its national currency, its largest foreign currency earner.
Gold is the primary asset anchoring the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG).
To build public confidence and curb the extreme volatility seen in previous decades, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe tied the structured ZiG currency to a vault of physical gold and foreign reserves.
In 2025, Zimbabwe’s total gold exports hit a historic record of US$4.61 billion, driven by favourable global prices and increased artisanal mining. Total physical gold deliveries to the Fidelity Gold Refinery reached 46.73 tonnes, smashing the initial annual target of 40 tonnes.
Market analysts attribute the volatile swing to a recent policy intervention by monetary authorities.
Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced a 90:10 foreign currency retention framework, requiring small-scale miners to accept 10 percent of their earnings in the local ZiG currency.
Because the small-scale sector operates almost entirely on cash-based hard currency inputs, the framework triggered immediate friction, with miners withholding bullion or diverting it to informal parallel markets.
Recognising the threat to formal output, the central bank reversed the policy on March 24, restoring the 100 percent US dollar payout mechanism.
As the country’s premier export commodity, gold continues to stand as Zimbabwe’s single largest generator of foreign currency.
Zimbabwe has benefited from high global prices, with spot gold currently trading between US$4 500 and US$4 550 per ounce.
The metal hit a record high of US$5 602 in late January 2026, driven by intense safe-haven demand and institutional positioning.
However, prices underwent a correction through March and April, facing pressure from a strengthening US dollar, elevated real bond yields, and hawkish signals regarding Federal Reserve interest rates.
A major structural floor for the market remains the aggressive, multi-year diversification strategy by emerging market central banks building up their physical bullion reserves.
Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and underlying anxieties surrounding global inflation and currency debasement continue to solidify gold’s status as the ultimate safe-haven asset.
Major global financial institutions remain highly bullish for the medium to long term, viewing the recent second-quarter price dip as a temporary consolidation phase.
Goldman Sachs maintains a target of US$5 400 per ounce by the end of the year.
ING and JP Morgan projects that renewed exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows and re-accelerating physical demand will push prices back towards the US$5 000 to US$6 000 range as the year closes.
