Zimbabwe to Tackle Gold Smuggling by Boosting Mine Surveillance
- Government will deploy monitoring teams, mines minister says
- Country aims to produce 35 tons of the metal this year
Small balls of gold collected from a mine in Umguza, Zimbabwe.
Photographer: Cynthia Matonhodze/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Zimbabwe plans to tackle rampant gold smuggling by increasing surveillance at mining sites, Mines Minister Winston Chitando said Monday.
The country loses $1.5 billion of gold a year to smugglers, depriving it of vital export revenue, according to the International Crisis Group. Most of its gold is produced by small-scale miners, who at times get paid late by the state’s sole authorized buyer, Fidelity Gold Refinery, forcing some to use other channels.