Gold’s 75% surge over the past two years is spurring exploration in parts of southern Africa not typically known for large-scale production, according to a Zimbabwean laboratory that has seen a jump in samples.
The samples have come from Madagascar and Mozambique, said Kiran Desai, managing director of privately owned Performance Laboratories, in an interview from the company’s offices in Ruwa, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Harare.
He said miners have been drawn by the laboratory’s quick turnaround in processing gold ore samples — typically 3 to 4 weeks.
During the first five months of the year, the southern African country produced 16,588 kilograms of gold, up from 16,013 kilograms a year earlier, according to official data. Earnings more than doubled to $3 billion from $1.2 billion.
Mozambique earned $121.9 million from exports of gold, precious metals and stones in 2024, according to data from the country’s statistics office.
Bullion has climbed to about $4,080 an ounce after the US Federal Reserve signaled it was less likely to raise interest rates this year. Gold briefly topped $5,000 an ounce during the US-led conflict with Iran.
Business development manager Tawanda Chawirah said Performance Laboratories has seen a 60% increase in gold testing compared with the same period last year.
“We are beginning to establish pathways to facilitate testing for the continent and beyond,” he said. “For instance, last year, 5% of our annual volume was from other African countries.”
Chawirah said 2% of the laboratory’s annual testing volume this year has come from outside Zimbabwe, with a target of increasing that to about 10% by year-end.
“We’ve received inquiries on testing capabilities from the UAE, USA, UK and Malawi,” he said, adding that another consignment is currently in transit from Somaliland.
(By Godfrey Marawanyika)
