Mugabe to seek mining shares

President Mugabe threatened firms with state intervention in 2000

The Zimbabwean state could take 50% stakes in mining firms, President Robert Mugabe has reportedly said.

The government is considering the move, reports claim, in an effort to crack down on what it says is the illegal use of foreign currency from exports.

The state-run Herald newspaper quoted Mr Mugabe as saying that the state did not yet have "absolute ownership" of the country's natural resources.

Zimbabwe has vast reserves of gold, platinum, nickel, copper and coal.

Controversial proposals

Earlier this year President Mugabe's government withdrew a controversial draft law which would have forced mining firms to sell a 49% share in their businesses to black Zimbabweans.

We cannot recognise absolute ownership of our resources - that must be corrected President Robert Mugabe

A final version of the law has yet to be published pending a consultation process promised by the government.

"We are going to demand that government be given 50% shares in the mines," President Mugabe was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"We cannot recognise absolute ownership of our resources. That must be corrected."

Zimbabwean state radio, also reporting President Mugabe's comments, said the measures were designed to prevent "illegal transactions" which had resulted in foreign currency earnt from exports being siphoned off.

It also said the move would apply specifically to firms involved in gold mining.

Golden share

Gold accounts for just over 50% of all mineral production in Zimbabwe and is one of the country's main foreign exchange earners.

The government said last month that Zimbabwe's mining industry was on track for financial recovery.

It said reforms had made it easier for firms to import raw materials while companies were able to retain more hard currency from their exports.

The collapse of Zimbabwe's economy over the past four years has left firms facing acute shortages of fuel and other raw materials while rising costs have curbed production.

Zimbabwe's economic output has fallen a third in the past five years, the International Monetary Fund said earlier this year.