Zimbabwe's Mineral Resources
Zimbabwe is rich in mineral resources, with about 40 types of minerals proven. Among the nearly 80 types of minerals, diamonds, platinum group metals, chromium, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore and coal are dominant resources. The following is an introduction to Zimbabwe's main mineral resources:
Platinum group metals: 2.8 billion tons of ore, with an average grade of 4 grams per ton, and the reserves rank second in the world. Zimbabwe has three major platinum mining companies, namely Zimplats, which is controlled by South Africa's Implats, Mimosa in Zvishavne, and Unki Platinum Mine under Anglo American Platinum.
Diamonds: Zimbabwe has high-quality diamond deposits. In 2013, the output of rough diamonds reached 16.9 million carats, ranking first in the world, but the quality is relatively low. The Marange mining area is one of the largest diamond production projects in the world.
Gold: Zimbabwe is the largest gold-producing country in Africa after South Africa and Ghana, with a gold reserve base of 1,300 tons, ranking among the top 20 in the world. The mined gold accounts for only 25% of the total reserves, and the quartz vein-type gold deposits, ductile shear zone-type gold deposits and ferrosilicon-type gold deposits in the Archean greenstone belt account for about 94%.
Chromite: Chromite ore resources are huge, with a basic reserve of more than 900 million tons, ranking second in the world, accounting for nearly 9% of the world's total. Currently, 33 chromite deposits have been discovered and mined in the "Big Dyke" in Zimbabwe, the largest of which exceeds 2 million tons.
Coal: Zimbabwe is the second largest coal producer in Africa after South Africa, with rich coal resources and a proven coal reserve base of 27 billion tons. Almost all coal is produced in the northwest of the Zimbabwe Craton, and some is produced in the southwest of Zimbabwe.
Copper ore: The proven copper metal reserves are 5.2 million tons, mainly distributed in the Paleoproterozoic Dewas Group in the northwest of Zimbabwe, which may belong to the eastern extension of the Zambian copper polymetallic mineralization belt.
Nickel ore: The nickel reserves are 410,000 tons. There are nickel oxide deposits in the north of the "big rock wall", which has good mining prospects. At present, 1%-2% laterite nickel ore has been discovered, with considerable reserves.
Iron ore: The estimated ore volume is more than 38 billion tons, with an average grade of 40%-50%. Because the only steel plant stopped production in 2008, it is basically not mined at present.
Coalbed methane: Zimbabwe has discovered a large amount of coalbed methane resources in recent years. Although no detailed exploration has been carried out, it is roughly estimated that there should be at least hundreds of millions of cubic meters.
