…Nyasha Magadhi , Founder and Director Young Miner For Economic Development
By Desire Tshuma
The Young Miners for Economic Development (YMED) wishes to express its unequivocal support for the government’s immediate suspension of all lithium concentrate and raw mineral exports, as announced by the Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon. Dr. Polite Kambamura.
This bold and decisive action represents a watershed moment for Zimbabwe’s mining sector. For too long, our mineral wealth has been depleted through opaque export channels, with the benefits accruing to a select few while the nation and its people watched their inheritance disappear across the border.
A Victory for Transparency and Accountability
We commend His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Minister Kambamura for demonstrating the political will to enforce beneficiation. This suspension is not a punitive measure against genuine miners—it is a necessary intervention to protect our national patrimony.
Minister Kambamura stated clearly that “only mining companies holding valid mining titles and approved beneficiation plans will be authorised to export minerals from the country.” For young miners who have struggled to formalise their operations within the law, this is a welcome development. It levels the playing field and ensures that those who have invested in compliance are not undercut by those who have exploited loopholes.
The Agents and Middlemen Problem
The Minister’s directive that “agents and third-party traders are not authorised to export minerals on behalf of mining title holders” strikes at the heart of the leakage problem. For years, shadowy middlemen have purchased minerals from desperate small-scale miners at exploitative prices, only to ship them out with falsified documents, leaving no benefit for communities and no revenue for the State.
This ban will starve that parallel market of its supply. When there is no legal route for third-party exporters, the incentive for illegal buying at the border collapses. This brings sanity to a sector that has been distorted by cash buyers operating outside any regulatory framework.
The Provincial Mines Office Gateway
The requirement for a recommendation letter from the Provincial Mines Office, confirming beneficiation capacity and compliance status, empowers local structures that understand the ground realities. It ensures that only operators with genuine production capacity and clean compliance records can access export permits.
This is particularly important for young miners who are often located in remote areas. The Provincial Mines Offices are our first point of contact with the regulatory system. Strengthening their role in the approval process ensures that decisions are made by those who know the terrain and the operators.
Mineral Composition Verification: Closing the Smuggling Loophole
The Ministry’s reserved right to “at any time test the export consignment to verify the mineral composition” closes one of the most persistent smuggling tactics: misdeclaration. Too often, high-value lithium or chrome has crossed borders declared as low-grade waste or other minerals.
This verification power, combined with the clear warning that “continuous use of an expired export permit or already exhausted export permit is a serious offence that warrants withdrawal of future export permits and mining rights,” sends an unambiguous message that the era of impunity is over.
Beneficiation: The Only Path to Sustainable Growth
Minister Kambamura framed these measures within the government’s beneficiation agenda, stating they are “implemented in the national interest to enhance local mineral value addition and beneficiation, to enhance mineral accountability, promote local beneficiation and maximise value retention within the country.”
Young miners understand that our future does not lie in digging and shipping. It lies in learning to process, to refine, to manufacture. The processing plants being built by companies like Huayou and Sinomine are not just corporate assets—they are training grounds for the next generation of Zimbabwean metallurgists, engineers, and industrialists.
When we process our minerals here, we create jobs here. We build skills here. We generate tax revenue that builds roads and schools here. This is the vision we share.
We urge all miners, particularly our young colleagues, to embrace this new dispensation. The government has made clear that “the Ministry will continue to engage stakeholders to ensure smooth implementation of these measures and to support compliant operators.”
There is a path forward for those willing to walk it. That path requires:
Formalising operations and obtaining valid mining titles
Developing credible beneficiation plans
Maintaining clean compliance records
Working with, not against, the regulatory authorities
Let us also be clear: the warning that “any mineral exports not supported by valid export permits and complete documentation shall be denied clearance and confiscated to the State” must be taken seriously. The trucks that have been crossing the border at night will find their market closed. The forged permits will be detected. The bribes will no longer work.
We support the government’s commitment to enforce these requirements strictly and without exception.
The Young Miners for Economic Development stands firmly behind this suspension. It brings sanity to a sector that has been plagued by chaos. It protects the interests of legitimate, compliant operators. It ensures that Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth benefits Zimbabweans.
We thank His Excellency President Mnangagwa and Minister Kambamura for their leadership. We pledge our full cooperation in implementing these measures and building a mining sector that truly serves the national interest.
The future of Zimbabwe’s mining is not in raw exports. It is in processing, value addition, and industrialisation. We are ready for that future.