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IN about three months, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has built a gold stockpile of more than 350kg.

This follows a Government decision compelling gold, diamonds, lithium and platinum group metals (PGMs) miners to pay 50 percent of royalties in refined metals, the other half being paid as usual in cash to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.

We were clear when President Mnangagwa announced the policy change late last year, that this was yet another master-stroke from his administration.

The policy change will help strengthen the economy, we said. It will strengthen the national currency. It will preserve value, in its most original form, for future generations just like what is happening in other jurisdictions.

Nothing on earth preserves value as gold does. Gold is every currency. It is a currency on its own, a universal one.

Now, three months since the policy took effect, the central bank has in its vaults a substantial amount of the yellow metal.

“Yes, we have started implementing the policy directive and so far, we have accumulated 350kg of gold,” RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya told our sister paper, The Sunday Mail.

“Other companies are ceding their obligations in monetary terms and then we convert that monetary value into minerals. It is within our guidelines that if a mineral such as lithium that has bulk ore concentrate, they pay the monetary equivalent and we convert it.

We do not have any real projections on the amount of minerals that we will get by end of the year, but we are expecting a significant amount.”

Based on the international price of gold of US$63 000 per kilogramme, we have an equivalent of US$22million in the bank.

This is still a modest parcel. However, it is a beginning. It is always important to begin something. From here, the country can grow the stockpile. More is going to flow as more of the four metals are produced.

The country produced 35 tonnes of gold last year and as more mines are being opened, others scaling up production, we project gold’s contribution to the stockpile rising.

Lithium is on the way up with two mines — Arcadia and Zulu — having started producing concentrate over the past three weeks. They joined the old-timer, Bikita Minerals. Platinum is always on the up at ZimPlats, Mimosa and Unki.

If all goes to plan, Karo Mine should start producing in the second half of next year. So, we expect the four firms to grow their contribution of a product whose demand is spiking just like lithium as the globe decarbonises.

Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe senior economist Dr Prosper Chitambara agrees with us.

“It’s a positive development to diversify our reserves,” The Sunday Mail cited him as saying.

“Already, we are seeing a number of countries across the world diversifying away from the US dollar. Most countries across the world prefer to hold their wealth in gold. It helps to preserve value, especially with gold, which tends to appreciate with time. It also helps with risk mitigation. It is generally a positive development.”