Zim Now Writer
RioZim Limited, once a cornerstone of Zimbabwe’s mining industry, is in freefall. With liabilities outstripping assets by ZiG$149.2 million and mounting debts in both local and foreign currency, the company is clinging to a last-resort legal strategy to prevent collapse.
Latest figures from RioZim’s audited accounts show a grim picture: current liabilities exceed assets by ZiG$1.04 billion, the company owes over US$5.5 million and ZiG$9 million in taxes and regulatory fees, and unpaid wages have ballooned to US$5.6 million. The Renco Mine, one of its few still-operational assets, has had electricity cut off over a US$4.7 million debt.
These severe liquidity issues, coupled with criminal charges from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and commercial disputes totalling over US$85 million, have forced RioZim into corporate rescue proceedings, a legal mechanism meant to help distressed companies restructure and avoid liquidation.
Amid this financial chaos, a potential blow was narrowly avoided when Curechem Overseas — one of RioZim’s many creditors — agreed to halt the seizure of the company’s property. Curechem had obtained writs of execution to attach vehicles and furniture over a 2023 debt, but the move has been temporarily suspended after RioZim’s legal team invoked protections under Zimbabwe’s Insolvency Act.
“Corporate rescue proceedings were initiated on April 28, 2025, by the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Workers Union,” RioZim’s lawyers wrote to Curechem’s attorneys last week, citing Section 126 of the Act, which triggers a moratorium on all legal action once proceedings begin.
Although a court order formally confirming the corporate rescue has not yet been granted, the filing itself is enough to shield the company from asset seizure for now.
Curechem confirmed it had paused enforcement action following discussions with RioZim’s lawyers but remains one of several frustrated creditors. The reprieve may be short-lived if the courts ultimately reject the rescue application.
RioZim’s workers, represented by their union and two employees from subsidiaries, initiated the corporate rescue, citing deteriorating mine conditions and persistent failure by management to meet financial obligations. An independent technical report released in May 2024 reveals that most of RioZim’s key gold and chrome mines — including Dalny, Cam and Motor, Maranatha, and One-Step — are on care and maintenance, leaving only Renco (gold) and Murowa Diamond operational.
With declining production, negative equity, and regulatory scrutiny intensifying, the company’s viability as a going concern is under serious question — a point flagged by both current auditors Forvis Mazars and former auditors Ernst & Young, who noted compliance and reporting issues dating back to 2021.
As RioZim awaits a ruling on its corporate rescue application, the future of one of Zimbabwe’s largest mining groups hangs in the balance.
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