I have already tasked concerned Ministries of Finance and Economic Development, and that of Mines and Mining Development, to jointly fine-tune this far-reaching policy, of course, in close consultation with the mining sector and mining concerns affected. The new policy also means our Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has to have a system for demanding and collecting designated minerals, even where these are processed beyond our borders.
Equally, the Central Bank should have enough, commodious and secure vaults for the storage of these hard minerals as companies begin to fully comply with this new policy. Our policy, I must stress, is not to receive or stockpile ore or matte; it is to receive processed final products from these designated minerals.
This new policy must be appreciated in a broader context. We already have a policy on Sovereign Wealth Fund, which shares the same goals with this new thrust on royalties. Both policies seek to secure and achieve inter-generational equity.
The two policies must thus talk to each other. Already, the Sovereign Fund has stakes in Tuli Coal, Kuvimba Mine Group and in the promising oil project straddling Guruve and Muzarabani, which is now at drilling stage.
Another policy area which this new initiative must speak to relates to our minting and selling of gold coins to ensure Zimbabweans have more avenues and instruments both for savings and for storing value, as we stabilise our currency and the broader macro-economic environment.
With Fidelity (Gold Refinery) as the sole buyer of our gold, and with this new policy on royalties also yielding more gold, it means our gold stocks are set to grow significantly. Through gold coins we have already introduced, the national propensity to save should grow in the economy. Equally, we must see a buoyant gold and precious metals beneficiation industry taking root and expanding in the country.
As I write, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, RBZ, has sold over 10 000 gold coins, for about US$15 million.
This means Zimbabweans have an appetite for gold coins, and to save. Our target is releasing US$30 million-worth of coins. By mid-November this year, the RBZ should be in a position to unveil smaller denominations of gold coins, whose value will range from a tenth, a quarter, to half of an ounce.
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