Gumisai
Nenzou,
marketing
manager
for
the
Minerals
Marketing
Corporation
of
Zimbabwe
(MMCZ),
says
the
“decaying
state”
of
the
national
rail
system
has
created
a
bottleneck
for
the
mining
industry.
He
blames
this
on
“decades
of
neglected
tracks
and
ageing
equipment”.
He
says
the
impact
is
most
severe
for
bulk
commodities
such
as
coal,
chrome
and
lithium,
which
require
large
transport
volumes
to
remain
profitable.
“When
these
goods
are
hauled
by
truck
to
ports
like
Beira
in
Mozambique,
the
cost
of
fuel
and
maintenance
pushes
up
the
final
price.”
He
says
this
makes
Zimbabwean
exports
less
competitive
compared
with
countries
that
have
functioning
rail
networks.
Despite
these
issues,
mineral
sales
hit
4.8
million
tons
in
2025,
earning
$3.4bn
—
up
61%
in
volume
and
14%
in
value
from
2024.
Platinum
group
metals
(PGM)
matte
sales
jumped
71%
to
$1.5bn
(37,194t
exported),
and
lithium
brought
in
$571.6m.
Growth
came
from
higher
PGM
prices
and
better
processing,
though
diamonds
and
coke
lagged.
Experts
are
urging
greater
focus
on
processing
minerals
locally
(like
Zimbabwe’s
raw
lithium
ban
since
2022)
to
create
jobs
and
revenue.
Government
officials
promote
mining
at
events
such
as
February’s
Mining
Indaba
in
Cape
Town,
but
critics
say
policies
lack
strength;
there
is
no
clear
“critical
minerals”
list
or
supply
chain
plans
to
rival
the
US
or
EU.
A
presidential
aide
has
called
current
efforts
“feeble”
and
inconsistent.
Reuters
reported
last
year
that
Zimbabwe’s
platinum
miners
are
owed
millions
of
dollars
in
unpaid
export
income
under
the
government’s
foreign
currency
retention
rules.
The
Chamber
of
Mines
Zimbabwe
said
this
affects
operations
in
a
sector
still
recovering
from
a
price
collapse.
The
report
said
the
country
requires
all
exporters
to
retain
70%
of
their
foreign
currency
earnings,
with
the
remainder
converted
to
local
currency.
MMCZ
GM
Nomusa
Jane
Moyo
says
recent
growth
has
been
driven
by
firmer
prices
for
PGMs
and
improved
export
processing
efficiencies.
“Value
growth,
however,
was
partly
constrained
by
lower
rough
diamond
sales
volumes,
depressed
diamond
prices
and
heightened
competition
in
the
coke
market,
which
required
strategic
price
adjustments
to
maintain
market
share,”
she
says.
The
MMCZ
says
volumes
were
33%
above
target,
while
revenue
exceeded
projections
by
10%.
It
is
targeting
$3.5bn
in
mineral
sales
for
this
financial
year.
Zimbabwe
is
positioning
itself
as
a
mining
destination.
At
the
Mining
Indaba
conference,
officials
promoted
investment
opportunities
in
the
sector.
Farai
Maguwu,
executive
director
of
the
Centre
for
Natural
Resource
Governance,
says
while
the
country
is
actively
courting
investors,
more
emphasis
needs
to
be
placed
on
value
addition
and
local
participation.
He
says
the
Zimbabwe
Investment
&
Development
Agency
(Zida)
needs
to
intensify
efforts
to
attract
investors
who
are
prepared
to
invest
in
beneficiation.
“Zida
must
market
the
country
for
investors
to
come
and
do
value
addition,”
he
says,
urging
the
government
to
empower
local
players
to
participate
meaningfully
in
the
value
chain.
“We
need
the
setting
up
of
companies
that
process
all
these
minerals,”
he
says.
Zimbabwe
was
the
first
African
country
to
ban
raw
lithium
exports
in
2022,
a
move
partly
inspired
by
Indonesia,
amid
rising
Chinese
investment
in
lithium
mining
and
processing.
George
Charamba,
deputy
secretary
in
the
office
of
the
president,
says
Zimbabwe
has
made
only
“feeble
attempts”
to
control
its
minerals.
“It
has
banned
the
exportation
of
raw
minerals;
it
has
also
started
demanding
royalties
in
minerals
as
opposed
to
cash.
Yet
these
are
…
weak
concessions,”
he
wrote
in
The
Herald,
a
newspaper.
Post
published
in:
Business