Debra Matabvu
Zimbabwe’s mineral exports will soon be placed under a digital tracking system that will link weighbridges at mines and border posts with agencies including the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, in a major crackdown on smuggling, under-reporting and revenue leakages.
The new system, being set up by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and ZIMRA, is expected to create a digital audit trail showing how much mineral is produced at a mine, how much is loaded onto a truck and how much ultimately leaves the country.
In an interview, Mines and Mining Development Permanent Secretary Dr Thomas Utete Wushe said the initiative was intended to close gaps in the monitoring of mineral movements and strengthen Government’s ability to account for the country’s resources.
“The initiative is intended to strengthen mineral production monitoring, enhance accountability and curb the illicit movement and smuggling of minerals,” he said.
“The installation is being implemented in phases.
“The Ministry of Transport is co-ordinating the rollout and will provide confirmed details on the specific mines and border posts once the exercise is sufficiently advanced.”
The proposed system comes as Government steps up measures to plug leakages in the mining sector, which accounts for about three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s exports and contributes around 15 percent of gross domestic product.
It also follows growing evidence of weaknesses in the verification of bulk mineral exports.
According to MMCZ, monitoring operations in the fourth quarter of 2025 uncovered discrepancies between declared and independently verified weights for lithium and chrome exports.
At Forbes Border Post, repeated variances were recorded between MMCZ invoices, ZIMRA deductions and independently verified weights, raising concerns over quota leakages and possible revenue losses.
During the same period, four trucks carrying lithium concentrate without valid export documentation were intercepted at Beitbridge Border Post, while two trucks carrying quartz without proper documentation were intercepted at a truck stop in Beitbridge in December.
More recently, MMCZ reported 18 suspected mineral-smuggling and irregular-movement cases between January and August 20 this year, involving 2 654,88 tonnes of mineral material and metal scrap, with lithium, chrome and silica featuring prominently among the cases.
Authorities say the proposed weighbridge network could provide Government with a second, independent measurement of mineral quantities rather than relying entirely on figures supplied in export documentation.
The Herald has established that under the proposed system, a truck carrying minerals from a mine would first pass over a digital weighbridge installed at the mine exit.
The weight would be electronically captured and linked to information identifying the mine, mineral, transporter, vehicle and consignment.
That information would then form part of a digital record accessible to relevant Government agencies.
When the same truck reaches a border post, it would pass over another digital weighbridge before export clearance.
The border reading would then be compared with the weight recorded at the mine and the quantity declared in export documentation.
Any significant discrepancy could trigger an inspection or audit before the consignment is cleared.
This would effectively create a chain of custody from the point at which a mineral leaves the mine to the point at which it leaves Zimbabwe.
The exact number of weighbridges to be installed and the mines and border posts to be covered have not yet been finalised.
Dr Wushe said the installation was being implemented in phases.
“The Ministry of Transport is co-ordinating the rollout and will provide confirmed details on the specific mines and border posts once the exercise is sufficiently advanced,” he said.
He said the deployment plan was still at an early stage and that the total number of weighbridges required countrywide would be communicated once the process had been finalised.
The digital weighing system is, however, only one part of a broader Government effort to establish exactly what is being extracted and exported.
Government has also been strengthening its capacity to test the composition and grade of minerals before they leave the country.
In the 2026 National Budget, Treasury said it would strengthen mechanisms to curb mineral leakages by capacitating the Metallurgical Research Institute and the Mining Promotion Corporation under MMCZ to undertake comprehensive assaying of outward-bound ores, particularly critical and rare-earth minerals.
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