Tinotenda Hove- Zimbabwe is moving to tighten the conditions attached to future mining investments, with authorities saying companies will no longer be allowed to establish operations focused on extracting only one mineral from a deposit.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga announced the policy during the Zimbabwe-China Business Forum in Hangzhou, China, on Tuesday, presenting it as part of the government’s push to extract greater value from the country’s mineral wealth.

Under the proposed approach, mining investors would be expected to bring equipment capable of detecting, separating and processing different minerals contained within the same ore body.

“We are no longer permitting isolated, single mining operations,” Chiwenga said. “We, therefore, encourage investors to bring in machinery capable of identifying and separating all embedded minerals.”

The announcement represents a significant shift in how Zimbabwe intends to regulate mineral extraction, although questions remain over how the policy will be implemented, particularly given the substantial capital and technological requirements involved in processing multiple minerals at source.

Chiwenga argued that investors should move away from concentrating on individual minerals and instead develop integrated operations capable of recovering the various mineral components found in deposits.

He pointed to Zimbabwe’s deposits of lithium, nickel, graphite, manganese and cobalt, which he said provide key inputs into electric-vehicle battery production. He also highlighted copper, chrome, platinum group metals and rare earth elements, which he said have applications ranging from industrial production to artificial-intelligence hardware.

The government’s strategy also envisages linking mining operations with Special Economic Zones and industrial parks, where minerals could be processed and transformed into higher-value products.

“Within this premise, we invite investment in Special Economic Zones and industrial parks anchored on integrated manufacturing,” Chiwenga said.

“We call for the establishment of upstream and downstream value-chain industries across sectors in these Special Economic Zones.”
The policy rhetoric comes as the government continues to promote Zimbabwe as a major destination for mineral investment.

However, requiring investors to process multiple minerals at source could also raise the cost and complexity of new mining projects, potentially creating additional hurdles for companies seeking to enter the sector.

The effectiveness of the new approach will therefore depend on whether Zimbabwe can provide the infrastructure, energy, technology and investment environment required to turn the policy announcement into functioning multi-mineral processing operations.