HARARE – Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has presented a revamped mineral royalty architecture as part of the 2026 National Budget. The new framework introduces a progressive, sliding-scale system for gold royalties, designed to capture fair revenue during price booms while maintaining investment stability.
The tiered structure for gold royalties is linked to global international prices to ensure the fiscus captures windfall gains:
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Below $1,200/oz: 3% royalty.
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$1,201 – $5,000/oz: 5% royalty.
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5,000/oz: 10% royalty.
This $5,000 threshold represents a significant climbdown from initial, more aggressive proposals (which suggested the 10% rate at $2,500/oz) following industry feedback and parliamentary debate regarding competitiveness.
The government reaffirmed that 50% of royalties must be paid in physical minerals (gold), while the remaining 50% is split between cash in local currency (ZiG/ZWG) and foreign currency.
During a debate in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister and MPs emphasized maintaining a separation between small-scale and large-scale producers. To prevent “side marketing” and smuggling to markets like South Africa, the government aimed to keep rates for artisanal miners low—ideally not exceeding 2%—to encourage delivery to national vaults.
The 2026 reforms also touched on other critical minerals. While some members proposed increasing the levy on lithium, black granite, and quarry stone to 3% to better capture value from foreign-registered trucks exporting these resources, the baseline discussed was a 2% export levy.
The debate highlighted that other nations, like Ivory Coast, are increasingly moving toward 8% royalty rates to strengthen sector governance, while Zimbabwe’s top tier of 10% remains among the highest globally to ensure a share of extreme wealth creation.
