Voices
24 August 2026
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is no longer a peripheral part of Zimbabwe’s economy. Over the years, the sector has accounted for more than 60% of the country’s official gold deliveries, while an estimated 500,000 people participate directly and indirectly in ASGM-related activities. Its scale and economic significance make the sector a critical driver of livelihoods and a key part of Zimbabwe’s gold economy.
Yet the legal and regulatory framework has not fully caught up with the scale and realities of the sector.
The planetGOLD Zimbabwe project is launching A Guide to Reforming Formalization of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Sector in Zimbabwe, a practical roadmap outlining how Zimbabwe can move towards a more inclusive, productive, environmentally responsible and formally regulated ASGM sector.
The guide is anchored in a fundamental premise: formalization cannot be realized through licensing or legislative measures alone. Rather, it calls for the alignment of law, policy, finance, institutional frameworks, market systems, and enforcement mechanisms.
Rather than treating formalization as a punitive process, the guide proposes a structured transition that creates incentives for miners to enter, and remain within, the formal economy.
Built from the ground up
The recommendations are informed by multi-stakeholder consultations involving artisanal and small-scale miners, representatives of government ministries, Parliament, and civil society. Their perspectives were complemented by an analysis of Zimbabwe's legislation and relevant international experiences and good practices.
This combination allows the Guide to connect national policy reform with the practical realities faced by miners.
One of the central issues it highlights is legal recognition. While the draft Mines and Minerals Bill recognize small-scale mining, the guide notes the need for clearer recognition of artisanal miners as a distinct category, reflecting differences in their scale, methods, resources and capacity to meet regulatory requirements.
Five steps towards formalization
The guide sets out five interconnected areas for reform:
Data-driven legal reform - ensuring mining legislation reflects the actual scale, production levels and livelihood importance of ASGM, including differentiated licensing and appropriate transitional safeguards.
Capacity building and technical training - strengthening geological knowledge, mining skills, environmental management and access to technical support.
Access to finance - expanding appropriate credit, guarantee schemes and other financial products that can enable miners to invest in safer and more efficient technologies.
Market integration and regulatory coherence - aligning gold marketing policies, traceability systems and regulatory requirements so that formal participation becomes practical and attractive.
Progressive monitoring and enforcement - moving towards risk-based and proportionate compliance mechanisms that combine education, technical assistance and accountability.
Together, these steps recognize that miners are more likely to formalize when the formal system offers a realistic pathway to legality, finance, knowledge, markets and improved productivity.
Supporting reforms already underway
The guide comes at an important moment as Zimbabwe advances reforms to its mining legislation. It is not intended as criticism of government, but as constructive technical input to support ongoing reforms and the drafting of the Mines and Minerals Bill.
The implications extend well beyond regulation.
Greater formalization can improve miners' access to finance and technical support, strengthen occupational health and safety, improve gold traceability and environmental management, and support the transition towards mercury-free technologies.
This is particularly important as Zimbabwe works to meet its commitments under the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
From recognition to reform
Ultimately, the guide calls for a shift in how formalization is understood.
For a sector supporting hundreds of thousands of livelihoods and contributing significantly to national gold production, formalization should not begin with enforcement alone. It should begin with recognition of the sector's economic contribution, the people whose livelihoods depend on it, and the practical conditions necessary for compliance.
When legislation reflects these realities, formalization can become more than an administrative requirement. It can become a pathway towards safer mining, stronger livelihoods, improved environmental stewardship and a more transparent and resilient gold sector.
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