This increase to 32.98 tonnes, coupled with a monthly average of 3.66 tonnes, puts Zimbabwe on track to surpass its ambitious 40-tonne gold target for the year, local media reported.

Small-scale miners are driving national gold production, delivering 24.5 tonnes by September – a significant increase from 14.6 tonnes the previous year. They now account for nearly 75% of Zimbabwe’s total gold output.

However, reports suggest some large-scale miners are using small-scale miners’ networks to bypass the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s 30% local currency retention requirement, benefiting from the small-scale miners’ 100% hard currency retention policy.