Harare: Zimbabwe's gold production will probably rise to 13 tonnes in 2011, compared with an estimated eight tonnes last year, as the mining industry continues to underpin the country's economic recovery, the central bank said.
Higher gold prices as well as the re-opening of mothballed mines and the recapitalisation of existing ones helped mining rebound, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said in an annual review of the economy.
Power sharing
Zimbabwe's gold production fell to an all-time low of three tonnes in 2008, at the height of a political and economic crisis which eased in 2009 when President Robert Mugabe agreed to share power with his bitter rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister.
Mining output, which grew by 47 per cent in 2010, is set to grow by a further 44 per cent in 2011, the central bank said in a statement posted on its website. Platinum production reached 7.252 tonnes in October 2010, compared to 6.848 tonnes in the same period of 2009.
Platinum output is set to rise to 12.5 tonnes in 2011, driven by the commissioning of Anglo Platinum's Unki Mine and expansion of Mimosa Mine, an Aquarius and Implats joint venture, the central bank said.
Chrome production also increased by 148 per cent in 2010, from 201,000 tonnes in 2009, to 500,000 tonnes, with 2011 output projected to reach 700,000 tonnes.
Coal output is estimated at two million tonnes in 2010, up from 1.6 million tonnes in 2009. Coal output is projected to rise to three million tons, the central bank said.
Mineral exports accounted for 64.5 per cent of Zimbabwe's total exports, which rose to $2.2 billion (Dh8.08 billion) in 2010.
