Overview of Zimbabwe's Mineral Resources Endowment

According to the Ministry of Mines, for ease of administration, Zimbabwe is divided into five Mining Districts: Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo and Kadoma; with two satellite offices in Mutare and Gwanda” (MMMD 2011: 7). There are also two parastatals: MMCZ and ZMDC; and two learning institutions: the Institute of Mining Research and Zimbabwe School of Mines (ibid: 10).

How many kinds of minerals in Zimbabwe?

“Zimbabwe has huge and highly diversified mineral resource base dominated by two prominent geological features, namely the famous Great Dyke and the ancient Greenstone Belts, also known as the Gold Belts” (Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, 2012). The Great Dyke stretches North-South for about 550km (approx 350 miles) and contains “some of the world’s largest high grade chromite resource base” (ibid). All mineral rights are vested in the State, hence any potential investor has to enter into a Joint Venture agreement with the State designated mining company, the Zimbabwe Minerals Development Company (or by mine by Special Mining Lease issued/granted by the President/Government).

Figure 1: Geological Map of Zimbabwe with Great Dyke

Source: Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (Geological Survey)

Mining contributes a significant proportion of Zimbabwe’s, up to 62.5% between 2009 and 2013 (http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/.../Zimbabwe_GB_2015.pdf). The sector contributed about 20% to the national GDP in 2010, the largest for a single sector……. (Ministry of Mines and Mining Development 2011: 6).

The International Monetary Fund considers Zimbabwe as a country among those with the highest per capita mineral indices in the world. The country has an extensive occurrence of both common and rare minerals, estimated at about 138 varieties. However, not much geological surveying has actually been conducted with the country largely relying on exploratory data which comes from mining companies on the ground and pre independence colonial geological maps. Of note is that of the 138 minerals varieties in Zimbabwe, most are semi precious but a good number, about 60 types, are very valuable with consistent commercial mining having been undertaken for over 40 mineral varieties. Zimbabwe is thus a good area for mineral resources, both the metal and non metal types. There is no national ranking for all minerals due to lack of geological exploratory data, however the country features prominently as having significant quantities of very precious metals and stones. The global ranking for individual minerals by various institutions recognizes that Zimbabwe has the world’s second largest for platinum group metals (PGM) after South Africa, the world’s second largest chromium/chrome deposits and about 30% of the global deposits of diamonds (estimated).

By and large Zimbabwe is a gold rich country with the metal mineral being mined in all major 

provinces of the country. Accurate figures are not available but on arrival of European traders in 1890, it was estimated that about 700 tonnes of gold had been mined using rudimentary mining methods. This mineral endowment led to the country being colonized largely for its mineral potential by the British South Africa Company led by Cecil John Rhodes, who later gave the country its colonial name of Rhodesia.

More recently, the country has become famous for its Chiyadzwa diamond find, touted the largest diamond find in a century by major diamantaires. Zimbabwe is estimated to hold up to 30% of the world’s diamond reserves, the largest singular occurrence of alluvial diamonds in the world. This has been mined by the government in partnership with several private sector players. There is also an un-quantified occurrence of coal bed methane (CBM) in Zimbabwe’s South-Western Matabeleland North Province in Lupane. The country is yet to commission an exploratory study to ascertain the exact quantities of mineral occurrence, hence most of the data used currently is outdated. The country has great mining potential in exploration/prospectivity and extractive mining. Further opportunities abound in minerals value addition and beneficiation as the country has a well educated population and the government has adopted a re-industrialization programme premised on local beneficiation. 

Zimbabwe is a mineral rich country with an established regulatory framework and adequate enabling infrastructure in roads, air, rail, energy and telecommunications. The IMF notes that Zimbabwe has the highest minerals per capita endowment.

Table 1:  Major Minerals mined in Zimbabwe

Mineral Type	Occurrence	Quantity/Quantum/Quality	Areas of Occurrence
Gold	90% is on Greenstone Belts, Proterozoic Piriwiri Rocks	Among world’s largest, 4000 recorded gold deposits	Midlands, Limpopo Mobile Belt, North-West parts of the country
Diamonds	Alluvial, Kimberlitic	Approx 25-30% of global production	Chiyadzwa, River Ranche, Murowa, Chimanimani
Coal		Approx 12 billion tonnes in over 29 localities	Hwange, mid Zambezi basin, Sengwa/Gokwe, Mkwasine/Chiredzi, Tuli/Beitbridge
Platinum Group of Metals	Great Dyke	2.8 billion tones (4g/t4e)	Main Sulphide Zone and Lower Sulphide Zone on the Great Dyke
Chrome	Great Dyke, Greenstone Belts (ultramafic rocks)	10 billion tones on Great Dyke, (80% of the world’s metarllugical quality chromite)	Shurugwi, Mashava, Belingwe, Limpopo Mobile Belt
Nickel	Great Dyke, Greenstone Beelts, Igneous complexes.	Komatiite and mafic intrusion hosted deposits, laterite nickel deposits. 30 deposits discovered so far	Great Dyke
Copper	Mangodi Basin (stretches for 150 km), Umkondo Basin (south-eastern parts of the country), Greenstone Belts	70 known deposits	Mangodi and Umkondo Basins
Iron Ore	Ironstone formations in Greenstone Belts	30 billion tones of reserves	Buchwa, Ripple Creek, Mwanesi/west of Chivhu, Nyuni/near Masvingo, Manyoka, Mongula/Limpopo Mobile Belt
Uranium	Zambezi Valley	7.4% U3O8 combined with 12.8% V2O5, after drilling 450,000t ore averaging 0.7%U3O8 and 1.4%V2O5. Could be larger because exploration was done in the 1980s when global prices were falling.	Kanyemba, Zambezi Valley
Pegmatite Minerals	Edges of Greenstones, and in metamorphic belts	Source of the following minerals: tantalite, tin & wolframite, beryl, mica, feldspar. Gemstones: emerald, aquamarine, chrysoberyl, alexandrite and euclase.	Ubiquitous in several geological environments
Dimension Stones	Mutoko Black Granite	Granites, gneisses, mgmatites, gabbro-norites, dolerite, marbles & quartzites	Black Granite is ubiquitous in the North-Eastern part of the country

Source: Ministry of Mines and Mining Development (2012)

NB: Zimbabwe has a similar geological environment as Canada

“The Zimbabwean government’s main objectives as regards the mining sector include raising capacity in mineral production, continuous exploration, beneficiation and value addition of minerals, as well as retainership of skilled professional manpower” (Ministry of Mines and Mining Development 2011). To this end, the government has recently committed itself to reviewing the mining sector framework and increase of value addition and beneficiation initiatives in gold, platinum, nickel, copper, coal, coke, diamonds, and other nonferrous ores and concentrates (ibid).

"Much is expected from those with much"

Beneficiation of minerals in-country remains an attractive prospect for developing countries. What is necessary is the critical mass of local entrepreneurs taking it upon themselves to formulate workable configurations of "what works, at what scale, how, when and why?" Perhaps it is more telling that there are more scholars who are against African countries conducting local minerals beneficiation and rather discouraging, coaxing and disparaging (bordering on academic/intellectual coercion) the prospects for more local beneficiation. For me personally, what is missing from these discourses (discouraging local minerals beneficiation in producer countries) is the voice of an African scholar whose views are not rooted in the Western intellectual methods. The time may have come for Africans to either locally beneficiate minerals or choose not to mine or export them. This makes sense for future generations who may have the requisite ideas and aptitudes to make it work. It is just not enough to take a Western scholars word for it just because "they say so!" Further, admittedly beneficiation is bringing change to some African countries, Botswana as a case in point. South Africa should lead the way in this matter, for to "those  to whom much is given, much is expected."

The following words are instructive: ‘Somewhere here upon the earth, men must come together, think something, do something.’ Alan Paton

https://www.mineweb.com/articles-by-type/independent-viewpoint/adding-to-the-national-value-is-beneficiation-the-answer/