Zimbabwe's small-scale miners are pushing back against Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube after he proposed bumping gold royalties from 5% to 10% for anything over $2,501 per ounce. The Zimbabwe Miners Federation sent him a letter saying the hike would tank new exploration projects and drive smuggling through the roof, since miners would just ship their product across borders where taxes are lower.
Small-scale operations handle over 75% of the country's gold production, and the federation warned that pushing them toward black-market channels would actually hurt government revenue instead of helping it. They said official exports would drop, which would mess with foreign currency reserves and exchange rates.
Gold sales jumped 88% to $3.76 billion over ten months this year, helped by record prices hitting above $4,200 an ounce. The budget proposal would extend the 10% rate to small miners for the first time instead of just hitting large operations.
Small-scale operations handle over 75% of the country's gold production, and the federation warned that pushing them toward black-market channels would actually hurt government revenue instead of helping it. They said official exports would drop, which would mess with foreign currency reserves and exchange rates.
Gold sales jumped 88% to $3.76 billion over ten months this year, helped by record prices hitting above $4,200 an ounce. The budget proposal would extend the 10% rate to small miners for the first time instead of just hitting large operations.
