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Business Reporter
FIDELITY Printers and Refiners has projected an increased gold output of 13 tonnes by year end from 7.3 tonnes of gold purchased and processed as at July 31, 2014. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya said in his Mid-Term Monetary Statement on Monday that Fidelity Printers would remain the sole buyer and exporter of gold in the country to ensure transparency in the accounting and marketing of the mineral.

“As at 31 July 2014, 7.3 tonnes had been purchased and processed for export by FPR. This is quite remarkable given that gold output had declined to three tonnes in 2008.

“FPR are projecting an output of 13 tonnes by year end and to continue with the application for accreditation to the London Bullion Marketers Association that needs a threshold of 10 tonnes per year for admittance,” said Dr Mangudya.

He said RBZ was working closely with the Ministries of Finance and Economic Development and Mines and Mining Development to establish gold service centres to harness gold from artisanal miners and small to medium enterprises (SME)s to put in place supportive measures to enhance gold production in the country.

Said Dr Mangudya: “The gold service centres are over and above the existing gold buying centres that FPR is using at ZB Bank branches around the country.”

Gold service centres are meant to ensure accessibility especially to small scale and artisanal miners who sometimes resort to smuggling.
Relating to gold bonds, he said, the government has commenced to redeem, through Treasury Bills, the previous debt owed by RBZ to creditors.

“RBZ and/or FPR do not have liabilities from the current purchases of gold. Artisanal miners and SMEs are paid upon delivery whilst the large scale producers are paid within 48 hours,” said Dr Mangudya.

FPR resumed gold refining in December last year since stopping in 2008.
Before that all gold was being exported unrefined and this among other things negatively affected the local jewellery industry, which resorted to importing refined gold and silver.

In the first quarter of the year, gold accounted for more than 30 percent of the total mineral value produced in 2013.
The government intends to be one of the top gold producing countries in Africa within the next three years.

Zimbabwe has more than 20,000 gold panners whose output, if properly accounted for, would significantly increase the country’s gold output.
The government had set a target of producing 15 tonnes of gold by December 2014, which appears to be difficult to attain as mining companies battle a myriad of challenges chief among them the high cost of power royalties and employment.

With adequate investment, gold production could reach 50 tonnes in the next five years, according to the Chamber of Mines.