Zimbabwe Mining Licence: Titles, Steps, Deadlines

A Zimbabwe mining licence is not one document. Under the Mines and Minerals Act [Chapter 21:05], you start with a prospecting licence, peg a block of claims if you find something, and register that block with the Mining Commissioner. Larger ground goes through an exclusive prospecting order, which the Mining Affairs Board reviews. A special grant is for ground already reserved against pegging, and the Secretary for Mines issues it. Which route you take depends on the size of the ground, who you are and what you want to do on it.

This guide follows that order: the titles, who can apply, the steps, the deadlines, where the cadastre stands, who to contact, royalties and environmental approval, and what has changed recently. Statute facts come from the consolidated text of the Act on FAOLEX (amended to 2014). Fee amounts are left out on purpose; they sit in regulations that were reviewed in 2026, and the amounts we could not confirm on an official page are not printed here. Check with the ministry before you apply.

Which Zimbabwe mining licence do you need?

Match your plan to the title. If you want to walk the ground and look for a deposit, you need a prospecting licence. If you have found one and want to hold it, you need a registered block of claims. If you want a large area to explore for several years, you need an exclusive prospecting order. If you want to mine a deposit on a large scale, you need a mining lease. The Act reserves a special grant for areas that are closed to normal pegging and for coal, oil and gas.

• One person, a few hectares, gold or base metals: prospecting licence, then a block of claims.
• A company, several thousand hectares, a multi-year work programme: exclusive prospecting order.
• Ground already reserved, or a project that needs its own terms: special grant.
• A proven deposit that will be mined: mining lease (or block of claims for small operations).

Zimbabwe mining titles and what each allows

The table below uses the Act’s own wording and numbers. The Zimbabwean Chamber of Mines lists the same group of titles on its mining law page, and the UNEP Law and Environment Assistance Platform holds the Act’s record. The Act dates from 1961 and has been amended many times.

One point surprises people: a prospecting licence on its own does not allow drilling or excavation. To drill, you post a prospecting notice, which gives you exclusive rights for 31 days within 300 m of the notice (sections 27 and 41).

Who can apply for a Zimbabwe mining licence

A prospecting licence is open to a permanent resident of Zimbabwe, or an agent duly appointed by such a person, and the holder must be 18 or older (sections 20 and 24). If the holder is not an approved prospector, the work must be done by an approved prospector appointed as a representative (section 21). A prospecting licence cannot be sold: the Act makes a sale void and an offence (section 25).

Exclusive prospecting orders are open to any person who applies to the Mining Affairs Board, which must see the applicant’s financial status and, for a company, the directors’ names and nationalities (section 87). That is the route used for larger exploration companies. The Mining Commissioner may refuse a prospecting licence, but must report each refusal, and the Secretary, if the Minister instructs, can direct the Commissioner to issue it (section 20).

How to apply: step by step

This is the route from licence to registered block, as the Act sets it out (sections 20 to 46).

1. Take out a prospecting licence at the office of a mining commissioner, with your full name and postal address and any other information the Commissioner asks for.
2. Check that the ground is open. State land, communal land and private land with the minerals reserved are open (section 26). Consent or distance rules apply near homes, buildings, cultivated land, towns and holdings of 100 ha or less (section 31).
3. Post a prospecting notice on a peg if you want to drill or excavate, and send a certified copy and a plan (scale 1:25,000 or better) to the Mining Commissioner and the landowner or authority (section 41).
4. Mark a discovery. A discovery of precious metals or stones is marked with a “DP” peg; base minerals also need a discovery notice (section 42). Hitting a reef in a borehole counts as a discovery.
5. Peg your block and post a registration notice within 31 days of the prospecting notice (section 44). If the discovery was by borehole, the period is 90 days.
6. Apply to register the block within 31 days of the registration notice. Lodge the licence, the notices, a plan in triplicate and, where needed, the owner’s written consent, and pay the prescribed fee (section 45).
7. Receive the certificate of registration. The Commissioner endorses the registered number on your plan (section 45).

For an exclusive prospecting order, you apply in writing to the Mining Affairs Board and include a sketch plan, the minerals you want, your financial status and a six-month work programme. The application is gazetted and objections are invited (section 87). Keep an eye on the Government Gazette if you are checking whether a larger area has been applied for.

Fees and deadlines

The deadlines in the table come from the Act. The amounts are not repeated here because the Act leaves fees to be ‘prescribed’ by regulation, and Cabinet reviewed mining fees in May 2026 (see below).

Missing a date is the most costly mistake. Failing to peg and post a registration notice in time is treated as giving up the rights from your prospecting notice, and failing to apply to register means the block is treated as abandoned.

The Zimbabwe mining cadastre: what is live and what is not

Zimbabwe is building a computerised mining cadastre. On 1 July 2026 reports of the post-Cabinet briefing said the Mines Minister had briefed Cabinet on progress with a digital register of claims, that the platform was not yet fully operational, and that the ministry holds a repository of more than 60,000 licences covering blocks of claims, special grants, mining leases, exclusive prospecting orders and sites. The stated aim is to settle overlapping titles and cut processing delays. In May 2026, Cabinet again listed the Mining Cadastre System among items to operationalise.

In practice, expect to deal with a paper process at the Mining Commissioner’s office until the ministry announces that the system is live for your title type. Ask for a written search of the registered numbers over your ground before you peg or buy. That check is the best protection against an overlap.

Who to contact

The ministry is the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. The Act names the mining commissioner of the district where the ground lies as the office for prospecting licences and block registration. The Mining Commissioner may refuse a prospecting licence but must report each refusal; the Secretary, if the Minister so instructs, directs the commissioner to issue it (section 20). The Bill described below refers to provincial mining directors instead. Before you travel, phone or email the head office and ask which provincial office covers your ground, and what the office needs from you on the day.

For the environmental side, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) explains the impact assessment stages on its impact assessment page. For tax, ZIMRA publishes legislation and notices at zimra.co.zw.

Royalties and environmental approval

The Mines and Minerals Act makes the miner of a registered location pay royalty on minerals disposed of (Part XIV, section 244), and says the rate is fixed in the Schedule to the Finance Act (section 245). Ask ZIMRA or the ministry for the rate that applies to your mineral and the year you sell before you build a budget. Gold sales are also controlled under the Gold Trade Act, which the Chamber of Mines lists among the main mining laws.

Environmental approval is separate from the mining title. EMA’s page on impact assessments lists “prospecting, mining and quarrying” among the projects that need an environmental and social impact assessment, and says you cannot start a listed project until the certificate is granted. The process has a short project prospectus, then a full assessment by a registered consultant, then the certificate, which is valid for two years. EMA gives a review time of 60 working days and a review fee of 0.8%, 1% or 1.2% of total project cost. The details are on the EMA impact assessment page.

Recent legal and fee changes

The Mines and Minerals Bill. A law firm summary reports that a new Mines and Minerals Bill was gazetted on 25 June 2025, and says it would replace the 1961 Act, bring claims, mining leases and special grants into three main classes, create a central digital cadastre register, and give provincial mining directors the powers that sit with commissioners now. It would also replace exclusive prospecting orders with an exclusive prospecting licence and replace “approved prospectors” with staking agents. The Muvingi and Mugadza summary describes it as a Bill, not law. When Cabinet met on 5 May 2026, the review of the Act was still reported as ongoing, so check the Bill’s current stage with Parliament and treat the 1961 Act as the rule that applies unless the ministry tells you otherwise.

The 2026 fee review. Reports of Cabinet’s 5 May 2026 meeting say it approved a tiered fee structure with lower charges for artisanal and small-scale miners, kept more than 80% of fees unchanged, scrapped the ministry’s trading on mining location fee, and reduced the annual inspection fees for claim blocks. Duplicate licences were to be consolidated under a single regulatory authority. The reports do not give new amounts, and we did not find the gazetted instrument. See Equity Axis and the AllAfrica report. Ask the Mining Commissioner for the current fee list in writing.

Common mistakes

• Pegging without checking who holds the ground. Overlapping titles are the reason the cadastre is being built. Get a written search first.
• Missing the 31-day windows. The clock for pegging and for lodging the registration application starts when you post the notice.
• Assuming a licence lets you drill. It does not. Drilling needs a posted notice, or an exclusive order.
• Buying a prospecting licence. The Act makes the sale void.
• Working near homes or crops without consent. The distances in section 31 apply, and some holdings need written consent.
• Treating the title as the environmental approval. EMA’s certificate is a second approval.
• Relying on an old fee sheet. Fees were reviewed in 2026. Ask for the current list.

Check the ground before you spend on it

A licence fee is small next to the cost of drilling or pegging the wrong ground. Satellite screening can rank which parts of a block or licence show alteration and structure patterns worth a field visit, before you spend on sampling. A Farmonaut satellite mineral report covers gold and other minerals, is delivered in 5 to 20 business days, and works best on areas of at least 10 acres. Satellites map surface and near-surface signatures; drilling and sampling confirm. Our exploration budget guide for a small licence shows where screening fits in the spending order, and the sample report shows what you receive. To see how it applies to your own boundary, use the licence area check.

Zimbabwe case studies on this site show the screening used on licence-sized ground. One study covered three contiguous gold concessions of 148.3 ha in Matabeleland South and ranked seven zones; it recommends ground-truthing and drilling to confirm. Another screened a licence under 100 ha and notes it sits above the 40 ha small-scale limit defined in the Mines and Minerals Bill, 2025. A third screened a licence of just under 200 ha and ranked target zones for a drill programme that has not started. A fourth screened 327.46 ha and reports exploration-target estimates, not a mineral resource, with a drill plan proposed but not carried out. Those figures are exploration targets and not a resource under JORC, NI 43-101 or SAMREC.

Neighbouring licence guides cover the same questions in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria. The country-by-country cadastre guide compares portals, and the artisanal licence page covers small-scale permits. Our Uganda mining licence guide is the next one to read if you hold ground in East Africa.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a Zimbabwe prospecting licence last?

Until the second anniversary of the date it was issued (section 23 of the Mines and Minerals Act, consolidated text on FAOLEX).

Can a foreigner apply for a prospecting licence?

The Act opens prospecting licences to permanent residents of Zimbabwe or their appointed agents. Exclusive prospecting orders are open to any person who applies to the Mining Affairs Board. Confirm your route with the ministry before you apply.

What is an exclusive prospecting order?

It is a title that reserves a defined area for your exclusive prospecting. You apply in writing to the Mining Affairs Board with a work programme and a deposit. The Act allows up to three years, extendable for up to three more.

How many claims can I peg?

One block per prospecting licence. A ten-claim precious metal block is at most 500 m by 200 m. Under an ordinary licence, a base-mineral block is at most 25 claims of up to 1 ha each; under a special licence, up to 150.

Is the Zimbabwe mining cadastre online?

Reports of a Cabinet briefing on 1 July 2026 said the ministry was working towards a digital register of claims, which was expected to replace paper registration once fully operational. Ask the Mining Commissioner’s office for a written search of the registered titles over your ground.

Do I need an environmental certificate?

Yes for mining projects. EMA lists prospecting, mining and quarrying among the projects that need an impact assessment certificate before they start, and the certificate is valid for two years.

Has the new Mines and Minerals Bill become law?

The Bill was gazetted on 25 June 2025. At Cabinet’s 5 May 2026 meeting, the review of the Act was reported as ongoing. Check with the ministry or the Parliament of Zimbabwe for its current stage.

Where do I send a quote request for a satellite report?

Use the quote form on the Farmonaut Mining page. You send your boundary and the minerals you want screened.