State-owned miner Mutapa Gold Resources is preparing an ambitious expansion drive that could nearly double its monthly gold output within three years, underscoring Zimbabwe’s growing reliance on bullion revenues to stabilize the economy and finance industrial ambitions amid persistent currency fragility.
Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee at Freda Rebecca Gold Mine this week, Mutapa Investment Fund Deputy Chief Investment Officer Ernest Denhere said the company plans to increase production from the current 300 kilograms of gold per month to 570 kilograms by 2028 through mine expansion, aggressive exploration and capital investment initiatives.
“Over the next five years, Mutapa Gold Resources aims to build a resilient, competitive and sustainable gold business that delivers measurable national impact,” Denhere told legislators, positioning the strategy within the framework of Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), the government’s blueprint for export growth, industrialization and job creation.
The expansion plan arrives at a pivotal moment for Zimbabwe’s mining sector. Gold has become the country’s single largest foreign currency earner, helping cushion the economy against volatility in agriculture and chronic pressure on the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency. Rising global bullion prices have also transformed the economics of local producers. Mutapa executives told lawmakers average gold prices climbed from roughly US$1,300 per ounce in 2024 to nearly US$4,000 per ounce by March 2026, sharply boosting revenues and profitability.
Chief Executive Officer Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya said group revenue surged from US$138 million in the year to March 2024 to about US$415 million in the year to March 2026, while profit before tax rose from US$42 million to US$157 million. Net profit after tax climbed to roughly US$130 million over the same period, with the company contributing US$44 million in taxes to the Treasury.
“If the question is profitability and our ability as management to deliver, I think the answer is an unequivocal yes,” Maseva-Shayawabaya said.
Mutapa Gold Resources, a gold-focused arm of the Mutapa Investment Fund, controls some of Zimbabwe’s most strategic gold assets, including Freda Rebecca, Shamva and Jena mines. The sovereign wealth fund, restructured in 2023 under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, has emerged as one of the government’s principal vehicles for consolidating state influence over strategic sectors ranging from mining and energy to transport and finance.
At the center of the gold expansion strategy is Freda Rebecca Mine in Bindura, which accounts for roughly 70% of Mutapa Gold’s total output. The mine remains one of Zimbabwe’s oldest and most productive gold operations, although executives acknowledged reserve depletion pressures are beginning to emerge.
Denhere revealed the group has allocated more than US$12 million toward exploration activities in 2026 alone, targeting a minimum 10-year life-of-mine horizon across all operations. Current reserve estimates show Freda Rebecca has only about four years of mine life remaining at present extraction rates, compared with approximately six years at Jena and 15 years at Shamva under existing operational assumptions.
To finance broader expansion ambitions, Mutapa Gold is pursuing a US$75 million local debt syndication as the first phase of a larger US$250 million capital program designed to expand mining capacity, modernize processing infrastructure and strengthen beneficiation capabilities.
“Beneficiation and value addition are central to our strategy,” Denhere said. “Mutapa Gold Resources is committed to moving up the value chain by strengthening local processing, refining and downstream linkages.”
The company’s long-term strategy aligns closely with Harare’s increasingly assertive mineral beneficiation agenda, which seeks to reduce raw mineral exports and deepen domestic industrial activity. Zimbabwean authorities have intensified pressure on mining companies in recent years to process minerals locally as part of wider industrialization efforts tied to Vision 2030.
Operationally, executives said the miner has maintained relatively stable production volumes despite declining ore grades at some operations. Gold production averaged more than 100,000 ounces annually over the past three years, although output slipped from 3.6 tonnes in 2025 to 3.3 tonnes by March 2026 due largely to lower-grade ore bodies at Freda Rebecca and Shamva.
Maseva-Shayawabaya said the March 2026 production figure of 340 kilograms represented a record monthly performance for the group and demonstrated the upside potential of the expansion strategy.
The company also highlighted the broader economic footprint of its operations. Mutapa Gold directly employs nearly 2,700 workers and supports another 1,300 contractor jobs, while an additional 800 artisanal miners operate under a pilot artisanal mining model at Elvington Mine in Mashonaland West.
Executives said the artisanal mining partnership — once considered experimental — has become one of the group’s more promising community integration models, reflecting Zimbabwe’s increasing efforts to formalize small-scale gold production and improve traceability within the sector.
Still, questions remain over whether Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth-backed mining strategy can consistently attract sufficient capital while maintaining investor confidence amid longstanding governance concerns surrounding the Mutapa Investment Fund. Critics have repeatedly raised concerns over transparency, political influence and oversight within the state-controlled investment structure.
For now, however, buoyant gold prices are providing breathing room. And in an economy still heavily dependent on mineral exports to generate hard currency, Mutapa Gold’s expansion ambitions may become a critical test of whether Zimbabwe’s state-led mining model can deliver both commercial returns and broader economic stability.
