Online Reporter
Lincoln Towindo
Deputy National Editor
THE mining sector has been the engine powering Zimbabwe’s economic resurgence, driven by strong performances in gold; platinum group metals (PGMs); chrome; and the rapid expansion of lithium production, a mineral now central to the global energy transition.
Record gold production, rising chrome exports and surging investment in lithium have significantly contributed to export earnings, anchoring this growth.
As a result, the mining sector has consistently contributed about 70 percent of national export earnings.
Last year alone, Zimbabwe earned US$3,4 billion from mineral exports (excluding gold and silver), a 14 percent increase from the previous year.
Gold exports generated about US$4,8 billion, while lithium brought in US$571,6 million.
Ferroalloys contributed US$372 million, steel exports reached US$92,1 million and chrome concentrates added US$150 million.
Yet, beneath this impressive growth lies a persistent structural weakness.
Zimbabwe has largely remained an exporter of raw or semi-processed minerals, forfeiting significant value that could be retained through local beneficiation and industrialisation.
Leakages through under-declaration, smuggling and reliance on foreign certification systems have further eroded potential earnings, effectively exporting not just minerals, but jobs, revenue and industrial opportunities.
It is these long-standing gaps that the Government is now moving to decisively close.
From extraction to industrialisation
Last week, Cabinet approved the Minerals Value Chain: From Mining to Beneficiation, Industrialisation and Exportation framework — a policy being widely seen as a turning point in Zimbabwe’s management of its mineral wealth.
The framework aims to shift the country away from “dig-and-ship” economics towards a minerals-based industrial economy anchored in value addition.
“Cabinet has adopted a robust framework aimed at transitioning Zimbabwe from a primary resource extraction and exportation entity to a globally competitive minerals-based industrial manufacturing hub,” said Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Zhemu Soda.
The framework seeks to maximise value Zimbabwe accrues from its mineral resources, plug illicit revenue leakages and reposition the mining sector as a catalyst for industrial development rather than a standalone extractive industry.
“Essentially, what the State has decided as the way forward is to disallow the exploitation of primary raw material in what is, in fact, a finite resource we call minerals,” said Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications) Mr George Charamba.
“The whole idea is that beneficiation, or the processing or value addition of those various minerals, happens at source.”
The high cost of exporting raw minerals
Zimbabwe’s failure to beneficiate its minerals has come at a steep cost.
Government estimates and sector studies indicate that billions of dollars have been lost over the years through the export of unprocessed minerals and illicit financial flows.
Gold smuggling alone is believed to cost the country millions of dollars annually.
Equally significant are losses linked to multi-mineral ores — a common feature in Zimbabwe’s geology.
Minerals such as lithium, chrome and platinum often occur alongside other valuable elements like tantalum, tin, nickel and rare earths.
When these ores are exported as raw material and declared under a single dominant mineral, the country risks losing revenue from undeclared or unprocessed components embedded within the same shipment.
In February, the Government moved to curb this by suspending the export of raw minerals and lithium concentrates, citing concerns over the shipment of multi-mineral ores disguised as single commodities.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Mr Pfungwa Kunaka said most of Zimbabwe’s ores contain multiple elements, making beneficiation critical to ensuring full value extraction.
“Our ores are multi-mineral in nature and bear more than one element. Therefore, the suspension will enable us on a whole-of-Government basis to ensure our policies and measures are complied with, particularly our thrust on value addition and beneficiation of our minerals,” said Mr Kunaka.
Added Mr Charamba: “We are prejudicing ourselves to the extent that we are sending an unpurified resource, which may, in fact, contain many other mineral elements, to a foreign destination. Geologically, Zimbabwe is in a unique position where you never have any one mineral existing singly.”
Through local processing, including crushing, milling, flotation and chemical separation, each mineral component can be isolated, quantified and sold at significantly higher value.
Separating these minerals locally allows Zimbabwe to capture full value across the mineral chain instead of exporting blended ore at discounted prices.
This ensures each mineral component is quantified, taxed and sold at higher value, rather than being exported in bulk at lower prices.
“The framework seeks, inter alia, to protect the national interest by closing the leakages that have perennially prejudiced the country of huge earnings from its vast mineral wealth,” said Minister Soda.
The new framework
The new framework is built around four key pillars designed to fundamentally restructure the mining sector and supercharge Zimbabwe’s industrialisation.
Mandatory beneficiation
The first pillar introduces legally binding minimum processing requirements for all minerals.
Under this system, exporters will now be required to obtain a value-added compliance certificate before receiving an export permit.
This means minerals must meet specified levels of processing, such as refining, smelting or concentration, within Zimbabwe before export.
“There will be mineral-specific architecture and mandatory standards which set out legally binding minimum processing standards,” said Minister Soda.
“It specifies the new mandatory requirements for a value-added compliance certificate for any export permit to be issued.”
This marks a significant shift from the current system, where raw exports have been widespread.
By enforcing beneficiation, the Government aims to retain more value locally, stimulate downstream industries and create jobs in processing and manufacturing.
In practical terms, a lithium producer, for example, may be required to export processed lithium concentrates or battery-grade materials rather than raw ore.
Localising mineral testing
and certification
The second pillar focuses on building a national network of mineral testing laboratories anchored in State universities and scientific institutions.
Currently, mineral samples are often sent to foreign laboratories in countries such as South Africa, China and the United Arab Emirates, a process that is costly, slow and vulnerable to manipulation.
According to the policy, this initiative will “end the costly and risky reliance on foreign laboratories for mineral certification through the decentralised network of specialised analytical hubs”.
The University of Zimbabwe will serve as the apex hub, handling a broad range of minerals including lithium, rare earth elements and uranium; while institutions such as the National University of Science and Technology and the Great Zimbabwe University will focus on PGMs and battery minerals.
Other institutions, including Midlands State University, Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Bindura University of Science Education and Gwanda State University, will specialise in specific mineral clusters aligned to regional resource endowments.
This localisation of testing is particularly significant for complex ores such as lithium and PGMs, which often contain multiple valuable elements.
When exported without detailed analysis, Zimbabwe risks being paid only for the primary mineral, while losing out on additional revenue from associated elements such as cobalt, nickel and rare earths embedded in the ore. By conducting comprehensive testing locally, the authorities aim to ensure accurate valuation and full revenue capture.
Mine-to-market tracking
The third pillar introduces a digital “mine-to-market” operational control system designed to enhance transparency and eliminate leakages across the mineral value chain.
“The mine-to-market system will provide a comprehensive, end-to-end audit trail that tracks every mineral consignment from the point of extraction through to the final port of exit, thereby safeguarding national wealth and enhancing transparency across the entire value chain,” said Dr Soda.
It is envisaged that this new system will create a continuous audit trail, tracking each mineral consignment from the point of extraction to its final destination.
In effect, every shipment will be digitally recorded and monitored, making it significantly harder to smuggle minerals or under-declare volumes and values.
By integrating data from mines, transporters, regulators and border authorities, the system is expected to strengthen accountability and safeguard national revenue.
Special economic zones
The fourth pillar focuses on establishing integrated special economic zones (SEZs) dedicated to mineral processing and industrialisation.
These zones will be strategically located across the country and aligned with specific mineral resources, enabling investors to operate within shared infrastructure ecosystems.
According to the framework, “Integrated special economic zones shall support both new and existing ventures”, with investors being directed to specialised hubs.
These zones will be regionally distributed, including northern regions focusing on battery minerals like lithium, and Midlands being a metallurgical hub for steel and chrome.
The establishment of SEZs around mineral-rich areas will anchor processing industries such as lithium battery manufacturing, steel production and other downstream industries, transforming mining from a purely extractive activity into a driver of industrial development.
In practical terms, the SEZs will function as designated industrial zones located near major ore deposits.
Within these zones, investors will be offered a range of incentives, including tax holidays, duty-free importation of machinery, simplified licensing procedures and guaranteed infrastructure support such as power, water and transport links.
These incentives are meant to reduce the cost of doing business and attract both local and foreign investors into mineral processing and manufacturing.
For lithium, which is in high global demand due to its use in electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage, the SEZ model could see Zimbabwe move up the value chain from exporting spodumene or lithium concentrate to producing lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and ultimately battery components.
This would multiply export earnings several times over, as processed lithium products command significantly higher prices on the international market.
These hubs are expected to promote economies of scale, reduce production costs and accelerate the growth of downstream industries.
This model mirrors strategies successfully deployed by China during its rapid industrialisation.
Cities such as Shenzhen, once a small fishing village, were designated as SEZs in the 1980s, offering incentives to attract investment and build manufacturing capacity.
China also clustered industries around resource bases and infrastructure hubs, creating integrated value chains — for example, linking mining, processing, manufacturing and export within the same ecosystem.
In the steel sector, regions like Hebei province developed as metallurgical hubs, while in battery minerals, China built a globally dominant lithium processing industry by ensuring that raw materials were refined and converted domestically into high-value products such as lithium carbonate and battery components.
Zimbabwe’s SEZ model aims to replicate this approach by anchoring industries such as lithium battery manufacturing, steel production and mineral-based manufacturing around the country’s resource endowment.
Bongani Ndlovu