Zimbabwe's state‑owned gold mining company Mutapa Gold Resources plans to double its annual output to 220,000 ounces by 2029 after securing funding for an expansion project, Reuters reports citing production reports made available on Friday.
Mutapa, the country’s largest gold producer, recorded output of 104,626 ounces in the financial year to March 31, a 10% decline from the previous year mainly due to lower grades.
The company has secured $75 million from Zimbabwean banks, covering half the funding requirements for its Shamva Hill open pit project, which will raise the mine’s output to nearly 80,000 ounces annually from about 24,000 ounces currently.
Work on the Shamva project, located about 100 kilometres north‑west of Harare, will begin in August.
Mutapa is negotiating with foreign lenders for the remaining capital requirements.
The rest of the additional production will come from a capacity expansion at the Jena mine, where work is expected to start in the final quarter of 2026, improved output at the Freda Rebecca mine, and moves to incorporate material from artisanal miners.
Mutapa, owned by Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund, is key to the country’s ambitions to raise gold output. Zimbabwe is targeting 50 metric tons of production this year, up from last year’s record of 46.7 metric tons.
Gold is Zimbabwe’s top foreign currency earner, with export sales reaching $1.19 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $579 million during the same period last year.
Zimbabwe earned $4.61 billion from gold exports in 2025, nearly half of the country’s total exports of $9.7 billion.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor-In-Chief, Rough & Polished
