BINDURA – State-owned Mutapa Gold Resources (MGR) has unveiled a US$212 million expansion programme aimed at sharply increasing gold production over the next three years, as the government pushes to boost bullion output to strengthen the country’s gold-backed currency.

MGR chief executive Patrick Museva Shayawabaya said the company was on course to meet its 2026 production targets while investing heavily in new mining and processing capacity.

MGR, a subsidiary of the state investment vehicle Mutapa Investment Fund, operates Freda Rebecca, Shamva and Jena gold mines and employs about 4,100 people, including 2,800 direct employees and 1,300 workers employed by contractors.

“We are commencing a project that we call the Shamva Hill Project next month,” Shayawabaya said, speaking during a technical visit by the minister of mines Polite Kambamura at Freda Rebecca.

“That project will result in Shamva Mine mining two million tonnes of ore and also processing that ore at source. From that ore, Shamva will produce 200 kilogrammes of gold,” he said.

The project, estimated to cost US$162 million, will more than triple Shamva’s monthly gold production from about 66 kilogrammes to 200 kilogrammes by allowing ore to be processed on site instead of at Freda Rebecca.

The shift will also free up capacity at Freda Rebecca’s 2.8 million-tonne processing plant, enabling the mine to increase its own monthly production from 204 kilogrammes to 270 kilogrammes, Shayawabaya said.

“We know the plant can do it. It’s now a question of whether the mining guys can deliver the tonnage for the plant to produce 270 kilogrammes,” he said.

MGR is also planning a US$50 million Phase One expansion at Jena Mine, which is expected to lift monthly production from 40 kilogrammes to 100 kilogrammes.

“So the teams are busy, growing the business to make sure that Mutapa Gold Resources makes its fair contribution to the Zimbabwean economy,” Shayawabaya said.

The expansion comes as the miner reports rising production. Shayawabaya said MGR produced 2,354 kilogrammes of gold in the nine months to December, followed by 901 kilogrammes in the quarter to March and 925 kilogrammes in the quarter to June.

“For the half year to June we actually produced 1,826 kilogrammes of gold,” he said. “We are very much on course to achieving 3,600 kilogrammes for the year to December 2026.”

The company is forecasting 3 400 kilogrammes of gold, about US$500 million in revenue and US$200 million in profit after tax for the year ending December 2026, although Shayawabaya cautioned that weaker international gold prices posed a risk.

MGR reported a US$70 million profit after tax for the nine months to December, paying US$35 million in dividends to shareholders.

Kambamura welcomed the expansion programme, saying it aligned with government efforts to increase national gold production.

“The plans that the mine has to increase production, we are very excited as the government,” Kambamura said. “I would like to urge other operations also to follow suit by increasing their production, considering that our currency is backed by gold.”

He added that financing for the projects had already been secured.

“The company has already secured funding for the expansion of its operations. Look at Shamva Gold Mine; they are going to develop a pit at the top of that hill, and that will see production increasing from 66 kg to 200 kg. Here at Freda, they are currently in the range of 204 kg, and they are also going to increase their production.”