Investment thesis
A top-tier African mining jurisdiction, mispriced.
World-class geology that still trades at a discount. Zimbabwe holds some of the planet’s largest high-grade chrome reserves, is Africa’s largest lithium producer, and runs a gold sector at record output — mining drives ~80% of national exports, and policy is now pushing beneficiation on-shore. DealRoom is where the assets behind that thesis are brokered — teasers in the open, everything that matters released under NDA.
- ~US$8.5B
- Mining sector revenue (2025)
- ~81%
- Share of national exports
- 12–14%
- Share of GDP
- +7%
- Sector growth in 2025
Up from US$5.9B in 2024 — Chamber of Mines
Mining is Zimbabwe's top forex earner
~20% of government revenue
Industry targeting ~10% in 2026
Full-year 2025 figures. Sources: Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, RBZ, ZIMSTAT — see notes.
The case in three lines
World-class geology, relatively shallow
The Great Dyke holds among the world's largest high-grade chrome reserves, and Zimbabwe's shallower deposits give it a structural cost advantage over the deeper, ageing mines elsewhere in the region.
The battery-metals frontier of Africa
Already Africa's largest lithium producer and ~10% of global 2025 output, with the continent's biggest processing plants now coming online at Bikita and Arcadia.
Capital is scarce, opportunity isn't
The sector needs ~US$10B of investment over three years to sustain and expand. Every dollar invested is estimated to generate roughly three dollars of wider economic activity.
Mineral by mineral
The headline metals carry the export numbers; the broad base carries the diversification. Each figure is holder- or agency-reported — see the sourcing notes.
Gold
The anchor — record output, record prices.
- ~43.4 t
- 2025 output
- US$4.6B
- Export value
- ~54%
- Of mining exports
- Top export earner and ~8% of national GDP on its own.
- Output rose from 38.5 t (2024) to ~43.4 t (2025), lifted by record global prices above US$3,000/oz.
- Deep, diversified base: ~18,000 formal jobs plus an estimated 500,000+ artisanal and small-scale miners feeding formal channels.
ContextGold's dominance is also a concentration risk — the sector's fortunes track the gold price closely. Formalisation of ASM output remains a live upside lever.
Operators & assets: Fidelity Gold Refinery (sole buyer), plus large-scale and ASM producers nationwide.
- ~43.4 t
- 2025 output
- US$4.6B
- Export value
- ~54%
- Of mining exports
- Top export earner and ~8% of national GDP on its own.
- Output rose from 38.5 t (2024) to ~43.4 t (2025), lifted by record global prices above US$3,000/oz.
- Deep, diversified base: ~18,000 formal jobs plus an estimated 500,000+ artisanal and small-scale miners feeding formal channels.
ContextGold's dominance is also a concentration risk — the sector's fortunes track the gold price closely. Formalisation of ASM output remains a live upside lever.
Operators & assets: Fidelity Gold Refinery (sole buyer), plus large-scale and ASM producers nationwide.
POLICY DIRECTION
Zimbabwe is moving up the value chain — that's where the returns are moving too.
Raw lithium ore and concentrate exports were banned in February 2026, alongside the long-standing raw-chrome export ban, with further beneficiation measures advancing under National Development Strategy 2 (2026–2030). The policy thrust is clear: beneficiate at home. For investors, that concentrates the upside in processing, refining and integrated in-country operations — exactly the assets DealRoom lists.
The assets are on DealRoom. Anyone can ask. Not everyone gets the file.
Mineral title checked against the Mining Cadastre, deal data in one place, and a desk that qualifies you before the documents move. Open to approach — no account needed.