The Zimbabwean government wants gold, diamond and platinum miners to pay half of their royalties to the government in the commodities themselves and the rest in cash.
Finance and Economic Development Permanent Secretary George Guvamatanga said the move is aimed at building the southern African country’s mineral reserves.
In a letter sent to the Ministry of Mines on September 2, 2022, Guvamatanga said the Treasury was concerned that the country does not have reserves of the minerals, which “serve as a source of trust in a country given that they carry no credit or counterparty risks,”
Guvamatanga confirmed the Treasury’s plans in a phone interview with Bloomberg on Friday saying “It’s something we want to implement.”
Polite Kambambura, deputy mines minister, said in a phone interview that consultations are still being undertaken with miners, including multiple meetings this week. He said:
The whole idea by the Ministry of Finance is that they want to store value of our royalty.
Mining companies that operate in Zimbabwe include subsidiaries of Impala Platinum Ltd., Anglo American Platinum Ltd. and Sibanye Gold Ltd.
Zimbabwe has the world’s third-largest reserves of platinum and also mines gold, diamonds, nickel, chrome, lithium and coal.