Zimbabwe’s mineral exports facilitated by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) surged by 84% to US$2.532 billion during the first half of 2026.
In a statement on the corporation’s half-year performance, MMCZ General Manager, Dr Nomusa Jane Moyo, said the impressive growth reflects the positive impact of Government’s mineral beneficiation and value addition policy, which is gradually shifting Zimbabwe away from exporting raw minerals.
“The US$2.532 billion recorded demonstrates the impact of the beneficiation and value addition policy. Based on the market trends and performance of our key mineral commodities, we are confident of surpassing our projected annual revenue this year,” said Dr Moyo.
She said the country’s mineral export basket continues to be dominated by platinum group metals and lithium products, underscoring Zimbabwe’s strategic importance in global supply chains for minerals that are critical to the green energy transition.
“PGM matte accounted for 33.93% of total export value during the period, followed by spodumene concentrates at 26.57% and PGM concentrates at 13.73%.
Collectively, the three commodities contributed more than 74% of total mineral export earnings,” Dr Moyo noted.
Dr Moyo said lithium sulphate has emerged as a new value-added export commodity, marking an important milestone in Zimbabwe’s efforts to establish itself as a regional hub for battery mineral processing.
“The Corporation views this development as an important step towards establishing Zimbabwe as a regional hub for battery mineral processing.
The growing global demand for lithium, fuelled by the rapid expansion of electric vehicles and energy storage technologies, presents significant long-term opportunities for Zimbabwe’s mining sector,” she added.
Dr Moyo said the latest results demonstrate that success in the mineral sector is increasingly being measured by the value realised from exported products rather than export volumes alone.
“The results confirm that success in the mineral sector is no longer measured simply by export volumes, but by the value realised from every tonne exported.
We are increasingly exporting products such as ferrochrome, steel, polished granite slabs and lithium sulphate, which command significantly higher values than unprocessed minerals,” she said.
Meanwhile, MMCZ is strengthening mineral accountability through investments in digitalisation, laboratory capacity, contract monitoring and mineral valuation systems aimed at improving transparency, traceability and safeguarding national mineral revenues.
The corporation expects these initiatives to further enhance the efficiency and integrity of Zimbabwe’s mineral marketing system while supporting the country’s Vision 2030 industrialisation agenda.
this is indeed a positive achievement, kudos to the government for its effective policies which seems to be paying off!