Zimbabwe is losing billions of dollars worth of gold to South African buyers who are offering local small scale miners high prices for the yellow metal, Parliament heard on Monday. 

Officials from the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and the Zimbabwe Artisanal Small Scale Miners Council told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy that no amount of harassment and arrests by the police would make them sell their gold through official channels. 

Gold production by small scale miners has slumped from a peak of 17 tonnes in 2004 to about 959 kilogrammes in 2013 although the number of miners continues to grow. 

The figures suggest the bulk of the yellow metal is finding its way into the black market where prices are lucrative.

Tags: Gold,