Zimbabwe’s gold sector has posted exceptional growth this year, with new data showing export earnings soaring by 88.9% to US$3.76 billion in 2025, up from US$1.99 billion recorded in 2024.
The surge has positioned gold once again as a major driver of the country’s export performance.
The spike was underpinned by a historic performance in October, when the country earned US$551.6 million from gold exports — the highest monthly figure this year. The October receipts alone accounted for 14.67% of total gold earnings for the first ten months of 2025, underscoring the strength of the sector in the final quarter.
Gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refinery also registered significant growth. Between January and September, miners delivered 32.98 tonnes of gold, a 37% jump from the 24.2 tonnes delivered during the same period last year.
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Officials say the improvement reflects stronger compliance, improved monitoring systems, and increased production capacity among miners.
Small-scale and artisanal miners continued to dominate the sector, maintaining their position as the country’s primary gold producers. Their deliveries rose sharply to 24.5 tonnes between January and September, up from 14.6 tonnes in 2024.
Fidelity Gold Refinery confirmed the trend in a statement, saying, “Small-scale miners remain the backbone of national gold production. Their contribution continues to rise, and we are strengthening support mechanisms to sustain this growth.”
Large-scale producers, however, recorded a decline, delivering 8.54 tonnes over the nine-month period, down from 9.55 tonnes last year. Sector analysts note that operational constraints, aging infrastructure and intermittent power supply have remained challenges for larger mines.
Government had set a national output target of 40 tonnes for 2025, driven by efforts to formalise artisanal miners, curb leakages and tighten the monitoring of gold movements across the value chain.
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