Buyer guide — Provenance
The Hwange and Lubu coalfields
Zimbabwe holds an estimated 12 billion tonnes of coal resources across the Zambezi and Save basins. The Hwange field in the north-west is the historic producing heart; Lubu and Sengwa are the growth areas.
Provenance matters commercially: seam quality determines whether you get genuine coking coal or an over-promised thermal grade.
Geology and seam quality
Hwange's Wankie Main Seam yields low-sulphur, low-to-medium-ash bituminous coal with genuine coking properties in the lower seams — unusual in Southern Africa, where most coal is thermal only.
Producing operations
The field hosts long-established large-scale operations alongside a growing set of mid-tier producers and washing plants. We contract across multiple producers rather than depending on one, which is why our supply continuity holds when a single mine has an outage.
Infrastructure
Hwange sits on the national rail network with connections to Bulawayo, Beitbridge, Victoria Falls and the Mutare–Beira line, giving buyers genuine multi-corridor optionality.
Frequently asked questions
- How large are Zimbabwe's coal reserves?
- Resource estimates run to roughly 12 billion tonnes across the Zambezi and Save basins, with Hwange the principal producing field.
- Is Hwange coal suitable for export?
- Yes — low sulphur and good coking properties in the lower seams make it competitive in both thermal and metallurgical export markets.
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