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US$400 Million Minerals Revenue Disappears\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
By Business Reporter-Zimbabwe has reportedly lost an estimated US$400 million in potential revenue through the export of undeclared\u00a0caesium\u00a0and tantalum\u2014high-value by-products smuggled out of the country concealed within lithium concentrates\u2014before authorities moved to ban the export of raw minerals.<\/p>\n
The revelations, made by Engineer Mudono, a lecturer at the\u00a0National University of Science and Technology, underscore deep-seated leakages in Zimbabwe\u2019s extractive sector,\u00a0long\u00a0plagued\u00a0by opacity, elite capture, and weak regulatory oversight.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a breakfast meeting\u00a0organised\u00a0by the\u00a0Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association\u00a0(ZELA), Mudono detailed how critical minerals were\u00a0being exported\u00a0without proper declaration or beneficiation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I use that as the basis of calculation, then I have a general approximation of the content within the concentrate. For\u00a0caesium, 0.07 to 1.05 percent\u2026\u00a0that translates to around 8,512 metric tonnes from 1.52 million tonnes exported\u2014worth about US$30 million,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you go to tantalum\u2026 from that aspect, around US$400 million is what is within the content.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest disclosure adds to a long history of suspected revenue leakages in Zimbabwe\u2019s mining sector, where allegations of corruption and elite-driven extraction deals have persisted for decades.<\/p>\n
In 2016, former President\u00a0Robert Mugabe\u00a0stunned the nation by revealing that Zimbabwe had lost an estimated US$15 billion in diamond revenue from the Marange fields\u2014an admission that\u00a0exposed the scale of illicit financial flows and shadowy dealings involving politically connected elites and security-linked companies.<\/p>\n
More recently, the explosive documentary series\u00a0Gold Mafia\u00a0laid bare how politically exposed persons, business elites, and international networks allegedly use Zimbabwe\u2019s gold sector to launder money and siphon wealth.\u00a0The investigation\u00a0pointed to\u00a0a nexus\u00a0between\u00a0gold smugglers, government officials, and financial institutions, raising questions about the integrity of the country\u2019s mineral governance systems.<\/p>\n
Concerns have also\u00a0been raised\u00a0about the growing concentration of control over the gold sector among politically connected individuals, including associates and family members linked to President\u00a0Emmerson Mnangagwa. Critics argue that such concentration fuels a parallel economy where gold is diverted through informal channels, depriving the Treasury of much-needed foreign currency.<\/p>\n
This pattern\u2014where politically exposed elites dominate extraction, trading, and export chains\u2014has entrenched a system in which mineral wealth benefits a narrow few, while\u00a0the broader population sees little return.<\/p>\n
Against this backdrop, Mudono has called for a decisive shift from exporting raw mineral concentrates to full-scale beneficiation\u2014processing minerals locally to\u00a0maximise\u00a0value and plug revenue leakages.<\/p>\n
His findings lend empirical weight to the government\u2019s decision to ban raw lithium exports on 25 February 2026, a move aimed at curbing smuggling and ensuring that Zimbabwe captures greater value from its vast mineral resources.<\/p>\n
However, analysts argue that policy shifts alone are insufficient without transparency, strong institutions, and political will to dismantle entrenched patronage networks that continue to define Zimbabwe\u2019s extractive industries.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The US$400 million loss is not an isolated incident but part of a broader, long-standing pattern of resource leakage\u2014where weak oversight, corruption, and elite control continue to drain Zimbabwe\u2019s mineral wealth.<\/p>\n
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