Published: 19 December 2013

State-owned gold refinery, Fidelity Printers and Refinery, resumed operations on Tuesday this week after a major facelift of its Harare plant, senior officials said yesterday.

The company, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, ceased operations in 2007 after gold output hit a record low of three tonnes in eight years, making running the refinery unviable.

Since then, Zimbabwe has been sending its bullion for refinery and marketing to Rand Refinery of South Africa. The resumption of gold refining will pave way for Zimbabwe's re-admission to the London Bullion Marketing Association, officials said.

"The plant is now up and running and they are refining between 10 and 13 kilogrammes per day," said one source.

Fidelity Printers has the capacity to refine gold and silver to purities of 99,5 percent and above using the miller chlorination and electrolytic refining processes.

The company is licensed to buy gold from large-scale producers, small-scale producers and holders of gold buying permits. Over the years, it decentralised its buying activities from Harare to cover the entire country, thereby significantly reducing the security risks associated with transporting gold for the small-scale sector.

Gold delivered to the centres is paid for on the spot after carrying out a specific gravity determination of the gold content. At the election of the customer, payment can be effected after performing the fire assay analysis.
- herald

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