Online Reporter
Oliver Kazunga
Senior Reporter
STATE-OWNED Mutapa Gold Resources is turning artisanal mining into a formal gold production model at its Bindura operations, in a major push to boost output and safeguard State assets.
The company, a subsidiary of the Mutapa Investment Fund, is rolling out the model at its Phoenix Prince area in Bindura — popularly known as Kitsiyatota — replicating similar arrangements already in place at Jena Mine in Silobela and Elvington Mine in Chegutu.
The move comes as Zimbabwe recorded its highest-ever gold deliveries of 46,7 tonnes to Fidelity Gold Refinery last year, worth over US$4,6 billion.
Artisanal and small-scale miners accounted for 34,87 tonnes, or 74,5 percent of total output.
Mutapa Gold Resources general manager responsible for contract mining, Engineer Tirivashe Vere, said the company had taken control of Mining Lease 21 at Phoenix Prince area to restore order without decimating economic activity.
“We did not stop any of the activities, or we do not intend to stop any of the activities, but we want to transform what was being done into what can fit into our structures.
“And this structure of what we call the artisanal contract mining model, we have tried it, we have tested it, we are doing it elsewhere, and we also know how to support it.
“This model seeks to achieve two things at once: increase immediate gold production while preserving the option to develop larger deposits in future,” Eng Vere told stakeholders, including members of the Joint Operations Command and artisanal and small-scale miners, among others, during a town hall meeting in Bindura on Tuesday.
Mutapa Gold Resources is the country’s largest producer of the yellow metal.
In the nine months to December 2025, the mining group’s operations produced 2,354 kilogrammes of gold, followed by 901 kg in the three months to March and 925 kg during the quarter ended June 2026.
Under the new arrangement, Mutapa Gold Resources will take a 30 percent share of gross revenue from contracted miners.
“In terms of expectations, we have cut out expectations. As a Government company, we are guided on what we take as a return.
“You are going to tell me that maybe you are taking out too much; we should negotiate on this, some of the lines are not negotiable — we are guided according to where we are coming from so you will see that in the contracts,” he said.
In return, the mining giant will provide technical support including geologists, mining engineers, surveyors and metallurgists to make operations safer and more productive.
Eng Vere said the Phoenix Prince area had for years been subjected to illegal mining, with little formal production accruing to the State.
There are an estimated 200 shafts in the area, with Eng Vere saying that instead of the traditional tribute system, his organisation had opted for mining contracts that are expected to reduce bureaucracy and give both parties flexibility.
Non-performing contractors risk losing their claims, while speculative occupation of shafts will no longer be allowed.
“So we have issued contracts through the project managers that shaft owners have contracts with project managers and if you are not performing you are going to be chucked out — you don’t come and take a shaft for speculation because someone is looking for the economic benefit from that shaft and also you don’t self-allocate shafts, you need to be orderly,” Eng Vere said.
This is in line with the “use-it-or-lose-it” policy the Government has adopted.
Under the contract mining arrangement, Eng Vere said project managers — and not the company’s senior executives — will administer the contracts.
The company, which holds more than 52 000 hectares of gold claims through Freda Rebecca Mine across the country in areas such as Silobela, Bindura and Shamva, is also engaging owners of plant and equipment to regularise their operations.
Mutapa said the formalisation drive was not a replacement for large-scale mining.
Exploration through drilling and aeromagnetic surveys will continue alongside artisanal operations to identify deposits for future open-pit or underground mines.
The company retains the right to develop commercial deposits, meaning areas currently worked by artisanal miners could eventually become part of deeper mining operations reaching up to 1 000 metres.
“In terms of our future, we need to do proper exploration, and as we do the exploration, we also need to map the current activities with the future activities, so you might see that we might be bringing in drill rigs, aeromagnetic surveys and it remains our right to do that.
“We will continue to invest looking into the future — artisanal activities when they end, some of you might have graduated and we might go deeper together; we mine up to a thousand metres and if the artisanal miners are capable and have developed the skills, we may walk that journey together,” Eng Vere said.
