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Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
Gold miners are expected to deliver 28 tonnes of gold to Fidelity Printers and Refiners this year, up from the previous estimate of 25 tonnes, following improved deliveries from miners as a result of incentives put in place by Government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
This was said by Fidelity acting general manager Mr Peter Magaramombe during a tour to assess the company’s operations by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy. Fidelity which is a subsidiary of RBZ and the country’s sole buyer and refiner of gold.
Some of the incentives that Government has extended to miners include the reduction of royalties and 100 percent retention of foreign currency proceeds for small scale miners.
“We are projecting by end of year we should be on 28 tonnes,” Mr Magaramombe told the lawmakers. “The upward price review and cash payments to small scale miners and reduction of royalty has improved deliveries.
“Currently, there are no delays on payments which we previously experienced and we expect to establish new gold buying centres in areas where there are no such centres at the moment.”
Fidelity was targeting 100 tonnes of gold deliveries by 2023, but Mr Magaramombe said while this was feasible, it required cooperation with other stakeholders to reach that target.
In the first 10 months of the year, miners delivered 22 024 tonnes of gold this year compared to 16 018 tonnes during the months last year with deliveries rising to around three tonnes a month up from around 1,7 tonnes since the adoption of the incentives.
Meanwhile, Fidelity by the end of October disbursed at least $1,7 billion dollars from the Gold Development Initiative Fund to assist miners improve production.
The fund was established by the RBZ to capacitate gold miners through the provision of mining finance.
Online Reporter