HARARE, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has reversed plans to double its gold royalty rate to 10%, a new 2026 budget bill showed on Wednesday, following protests by miners and industry groups.<\/p>\n
A royalty rate of 5% would continue to apply for gold prices between $1,200 and $5,000 per ounce, according to the revised budget bill, which was approved by Zimbabwe’s lower parliament chamber in the early hours of Wednesday following lengthy debate.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n In his budget speech last month, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube had proposed doubling the gold royalty<\/a> rate to 10% for gold sold above $2,501 an ounce.<\/p>\n During the late-night budget debate, however, he told lawmakers that a 10% royalty rate would now only apply if the bullion price topped $5,000 an ounce.<\/p>\n Small-scale miners would continue to pay lower royalty rates of up to 2%, he added.<\/p>\n Large-scale miners such as Caledonia Mining Plc (CALq.L), opens new tab<\/a> have warned that the proposed royalty hike would impact profitability at its 80,000 ounce-per-year Blanket mine in southern Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n Caledonia said the royalty increase and other changes to Zimbabwe’s fiscal regime would also undermine plans to develop its $500 million Bilboes project, which is set to be Zimbabwe’s biggest gold mine.<\/p>\n The southern African nation produced 42 metric tons of gold in the 11 months to November 2025, a new peak, outpacing the previous record of 37 metric tons in 2024.<\/p>\n Industry groups had warned that the government’s royalty hike would hurt efforts to attract investment and reposition Zimbabwe among Africa’s top gold producers.<\/p>\n Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Joe Bavier<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n