Gold deliveries to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), Zimbabwe’s sole gold buyer and exporter, saw a substantial increase of approximately 25.3% in January 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to data from FGR. The total gold delivered reached 2,375.3259 kgs, up from 1,895.9155 kgs in January 2023.
Breaking down the statistics, large-scale miners contributed significantly to this surge, with deliveries increasing by about 18.6% to 1,108.8152 kgs, compared to 934.8500 kgs in January 2023.
Small-scale miners also played a notable role, witnessing a robust increase of around 31.8% with deliveries totaling 1,266.5107 kgs, up from 961.0655 kgs in January 2023.Despite this year-on-year growth, there was a marginal decline of approximately 3.1% in deliveries compared to December 2023, where 2,450.6266 kgs were delivered. Small-scale miners also saw a decrease of 22.3%, with deliveries dropping from 1,630.1057 kgs in December 2023 to 1,266.5107 kgs in January 2024.
In contrast, deliveries by large small miners witnessed a notable uptick of 35.1%, from 820.5209 kgs in December 2023 to 1,108.8152 kgs in January 2024.
In 2023, large-scale miners demonstrated resilience with a 1.8% increase in gold deliveries to FGR, reaching 11.4 tonnes compared to 11.2 tonnes the previous year. Conversely, deliveries from artisanal and small-scale miners declined by 22.8% to 18.6 tonnes, attributed to factors such as adverse weather conditions and the government’s forex retention policy introduced in November.The overall gold deliveries in the country witnessed a 15% decline in 2023, totaling 30.1 tonnes compared to 35.6 tonnes in the previous year.
Despite the decrease, small-scale miners continued to dominate, contributing 61.8% of the total gold deliveries to FGR.
