By Staff Reporter
The gazetting of the Mines and Minerals Bill, 2025, marks a significant step in Zimbabwe’s ongoing efforts to modernize its mineral governance framework, replacing the decades-old Mines and Minerals Act [Chapter 21:05]. Crafted in response to deep-seated policy, legal, and socio-economic challenges, the Bill aims to create a more transparent, accountable, and inclusive mining sector, balancing mineral development with environmental sustainability and community rights.
At its core, the Bill introduces sweeping institutional and procedural reforms, starting with the reconstitution of the Mining Affairs Board. The new Board will be more ‘inclusive’, drawing representation from diverse sectors including small-scale and large-scale miners, farmers, and professional bodies, with mandatory regional and gender balance. This is a significant departure from the previous composition dominated by Ministry officials, promising a more consultative approach to mineral governance. The Minister appoints the Mining Affairs Board, including both public officials and stakeholder representatives, and has discretion over one additional expert member.
The Bill also transforms how mining rights are managed, introducing a Mining Cadastre Register as the definitive digital record of mining titles. Unlike the outdated manual systems, this centralised digital registry will increase transparency, reduce title conflicts, and ensure that mining rights are traceable to their beneficial owners. Mining titles will now be simplified to three types: claims (or blocks of claims), mining leases, and special grants. The introduction of staking agents—distinct from prospectors—clarifies roles in the process of pegging claims, addressing past confusion and misuse of prospecting rights.
In a bold shift, the Bill emphasizes the “use it or lose it” principle. Miners will no longer be able to retain rights by merely paying annual fees. Instead, they must demonstrate active development and environmental compliance through inspection certificates and social responsibility reporting. Large-scale miners are particularly held to account, with requirements to obtain social responsibility certificates from certified organisations, verifying community engagement, cultural sensitivity, and fair labour practices. These changes represent an ambitious attempt to embed Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles at the heart of mining operations.
Perhaps one of the most notable innovations is the formal designation of “strategic minerals” resources deemed critical to Zimbabwe’s economy, security, or industrial policy. The Minister of Mines can, in consultation with the Mining Affairs Board, classify certain minerals (such as rare earths or uranium) as strategic, requiring miners to negotiate special agreements with the State before exploration or extraction. This allows the government to retain strategic oversight over high-value resources and shape mineral development in line with national priorities.
Crucially, the Bill also addresses long-standing tensions between miners and landholders, especially farmers and communal land occupiers, by codifying land-use rights and dispute resolution mechanisms. Farmers will have the right to cultivate the surface of mining locations under approved schemes, and miners are required to notify landholders and obtain consent where prospecting affects sensitive land areas such as homesteads, cultivated fields, or grazing land. If disputes arise, Provincial Mining Directors (PMDs) are empowered to mediate, with the Administrative Court available for appeals. This approach promotes administrative justice and seeks to de-escalate conflict in mineral-rich farming areas.
The Bill also introduces civil penalties as a key compliance mechanism, allowing PMDs to impose monetary fines on offenders without resorting to criminal prosecution. This is expected to streamline enforcement and reduce the burden on courts, while encouraging responsible behaviour in the sector. Continuous defiance of a civil penalty may, however, escalate to criminal liability, providing both flexibility and deterrence.
Further innovations include reforms to exclusive prospecting and exploration licences, restricting these to clearly defined areas and making them non-transferable to curb speculation. Foreign applicants must demonstrate an intention to operate at a large scale, aligning with Zimbabwe’s beneficiation and indigenisation goals. The Bill also introduces provisions for dependent and independent mine service sites, enabling infrastructure such as custom mills or beneficiation plants to be licensed in support of mining activity, potentially fostering downstream value addition and local economic benefits.
To preserve the integrity of mining titles and prevent strategic land hoarding, the Bill imposes tighter controls on mining lease applications, beaconing requirements, and timelines for site development. Leaseholders are now compelled to submit annual development programmes, and failure to comply with lease conditions may result in revocation.
In addition to setting new governance benchmarks, the Bill subtly reconfigures the power dynamics between state, capital, and community. While the President retains legal dominion over all mineral resources, the scope of that authority is now subject to parliamentary oversight and constitutional limits under public interest provisions. By formalising public-private agreements in strategic minerals and establishing frameworks for local beneficiation, indigenisation, and environmental protection, the Bill gestures towards a more democratic and sustainable model of resource governance.
However, critics may point to the enduring centralisation of power in the Minister of Mines and the potential for political discretion in strategic mineral declarations or mining reservations. Ensuring that these powers are exercised transparently and accountably will be critical to the Bill’s legitimacy.
In summary, the Mines and Minerals Bill, 2025, seeks to usher in a new era of mineral governance in Zimbabwe, one defined by transparency, community engagement, environmental protection, and strategic national interest. While the success of this legislative overhaul will depend heavily on implementation, institutional capacity, and political will, the Bill nonetheless lays a comprehensive foundation for transforming Zimbabwe’s extractive sector from a source of conflict and opacity into a pillar of inclusive and sustainable development.