Zimbabwe earned US$807 million from mineral exports in the first nine months of the year, a government mining agency said Friday.
The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe said the earnings represented an increase of 25 percent over the same period last year.
It said platinum, of which Zimbabwe has the second largest reserves in the world after South Africa, accounted for the bulk of the earnings at US$540 million.
This was followed up by diamonds at over US$100 million, and smaller earnings fr om nickle, coal and granite.
The government-run minerals marketing agency said the figure excluded earnings f rom gold, which is marketed independently by the central bank.
But gold production has surged strongly this year, and export earnings were proj ected around US$500 million for the full year.
Zimbabwe has a strong mining industry, but it has been thrown into uncertainty a fter the authorities announced plans to seize controlling shareholdings in all foreign-owned businesses, particularly mining companies.
