Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Martin Kadzere
20 March 2008
Harare — Zimbawes gold output fell 58,9 percent to 315,7 kilogrammes in February 2008 from 768,1 kg a year earlier, official data showed yesterday.
Figures released by the Chamber of Mines reveal that gold sales rose however to $20,7 trillion versus $10 billion achieved a year earlier.
This is largely due to the increase in the international gold price to over US$1 000 per ounce. The gold price gained 32 percent in 2007. Gold output for January this year also showed a sharp decline as only 370,2kg were produced down from 819kg in the same month last year, reflecting a decline of 54 percent.
Month-on-month, February output dropped 14,8 percent from January's production. Last year, the yellow metal fell 37 percent from about 11 tonnes produced in the year ago period to just over 7 tonnes. The target for gold had been set at 10 tonnes for 2007. The sector is expected to produce about 8 tonnes this year. Zimbabwe's gold output has fallen a peak of 29 tonnes reported in 1916. Industry players said gold output continues to decline as a result of challenges facing the sector. They cited inadequate foreign currency for importation of raw materials, power cuts and investments drought as some of the actors that contributed to the continued downfall in the production of gold.
"It is a combination of several factors, that one of foreign currency shortages, power cuts and no major investment has been made in the sector for quite sometime," said one mining analyst with a local gold company. In January, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe blamed falling gold output to rising production costs, frequent power outages, lack of capacity for opening new mines and smuggling and the general lack mining development programmes.
Early this year, Metallon Gold Zimbabwe, one of the country's biggest mining company expressed concern over the unavailability of foreign currency and erratic power supplies warning gold output may continue declining. The company, which accounts for about 50 percent of the country's total gold output forecast that production may continue declining this year to levels below 4 tonnes. Meanwhile the chamber said it was yet to collect data on mineral production output of other minerals largely due to telecommunications disruptions.
"There are a lot of gaps because we have been failing to get mineral production from other mining houses for both January and February due to telephone problems," Chamber of Mines mineral economist and technical advisor Mr David Matyanga said. "This has really affected timely release of the essential mining data." The mining sector contributes about 4 percent to the country's GDP. Exports of minerals earned Zimbabwe US$850 million in 2007, up 21 percent from 2006'a US$702.2 million.
Zimbabwe has also fallen from the number 3 gold producing nation in Africa after South Africa and Ghana, and now ranks in the bottom five. Countries like Mali and Tanzania are now producing more of the yellow metal.
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