Tinotenda Hove- Zimbabwe is touting a 20 percent surge in gold deliveries to 36 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, but the celebratory figures have done little to mask questions over who is actually benefiting from the mineral wealth.

Fidelity Gold Refinery data shows the country is edging towards its 50-tonne annual target, a rise officials have linked to firming international prices and improved local output.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Polite Kambamura insists the trajectory points to another record year, crediting government policy interventions.

“It is almost three months to go before the year comes to an end, and what we are witnessing is another record-breaking year for gold deliveries that are being sustained as a result of fiscal and monetary reforms,” he said.

“At 36 tonnes already, the trend is just promising, and we are confident as a ministry of achieving the set gold production targets come the end of this year; this is largely emanating from interventions being put in place by Government in positioning the yellow metal as a key enabler for growth,” he added.

University of Zimbabwe economist Professor Albert Makochekanwa echoed the official optimism, arguing that higher output strengthens backing for the struggling Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency.

“The trend since the beginning of this year has been highly impressive, and what this means is a huge boost to the monetary authorities’ initiatives to bolster reserves backing the domestic structured currency so that the stability being realised so far continues,” he said.

“Otherwise, it does far so good for Zimbabwe’s gold mobilisation strategy, which is reaping benefits from Government’s favourable policies to sustain growth and set the tone for positive growth rates in the future,” he said.

Yet beneath the upbeat projections lies an uncomfortable truth. Gold remains the country’s largest foreign currency earner, contributing more than 60 percent of export earnings, while small-scale miners who deliver over 70 percent of the output continue to work in hazardous conditions with little security or fair compensation.

Government points to incentives and improved processing infrastructure, and large-scale producers have increased capital spending to cash in on high global prices, but critics say the system still extracts far more from ordinary miners than it returns.

With transparency around Fidelity pricing, royalty distribution and the actual build-up of ZiG reserves remaining murky, the 36-tonne milestone risks becoming another statistic that looks good on paper while leaving mining communities trapped in poverty.