By A Correspondent

Zimbabwe’s vital mining sector has shed over 1,000 jobs amid deepening economic turmoil, according to a new report by the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CoMZ). The report, unveiled on Thursday at the opening of the 2025 Mining Conference in Victoria Falls, paints a grim picture of an industry grappling with mounting challenges.

“For the year 2024, the [industry] recorded 1 216 retrenchments,” CoMZ stated. This marks a sharp increase of 314% compared to 2023, when just 294 mining jobs were lost. The report also noted that, “As at December 31, 2024, records showed that at least 49 160 workers were employed in the mining industry, with a vast, but unknown number of unregistered…workers also operating largely in gold mining.”

Zimbabwe’s mining sector, which serves as the country’s largest source of foreign currency, is currently facing crippling power outages, falling global commodity prices, and acute foreign currency shortages.

“Power challenges have been a major factor in the industry’s downturn. To sustain operations, some mines have turned to alternative energy sources, including solar power and diesel generators,” said CoMZ.

The report further revealed that 69 mining companies retrenched workers in 2024, up from 42 in the previous year, citing the rising cost of doing business as a primary factor. Some operations reported power cuts lasting up to 18 hours per day.

Despite the setbacks, the sector continues to support a significant portion of the population through informal employment. CoMZ estimates that over 500,000 artisanal and small-scale miners were active in the industry during 2024.

The job losses are a stark reminder of the fragile state of Zimbabwe’s economy and raise concerns about the long-term sustainability of a sector once seen as a beacon of hope for national recovery.