VICE President John Nkomo has urged the government to provide mining companies with incentives that encourage them to set up beneficiation plants locally.
Zimbabwe is reputed to have vast mineral resources including platinum, gold, chrome, iron ore and diamonds but most of them have been exported in raw form.
The government has already imposed a ban on raw chrome exports and reserves a certain percentage of diamonds for local cutters and polishers to promote value addition.
Officially opening the fourth edition of the annual Mining Indaba, Nkomo said the country stood to gain financially by promoting value addition.
"Most of our minerals are being exported in their raw form, It is therefore imperative that government introduces incentives to promote value addition and beneficiation," he said.
"Local beneficiation will definitely result in more revenues from commodities and employment opportunities in down-stream industries."
Nkomo said Zimbabwe's mineral wealth, if leveraged properly, could spur and sustain double digit economic growth.
He said it was critical for government to address challenges that include skewed policies, inadequate power supplies and limited access to affordable lines of credit for the mining sector to realise its full potential.
He urged mining companies to strive to employ the use of modern technologies in their operations.
"Zimbabwe's strength is premised on its highly diversified mineral endowments," said Nkomo, highlighting the need to invest in exploration for the country to determine the full extent of her mineral wealth.
The mining sector, which contributes at least 13 percent to the country's GDP, requires an estimated US$6-billion to US$8-billion in fresh capital investment over the next five to eight years to restore and improve production capacity at existing mines.
The mining conference is running under the theme "Making it happen for the mining sector in Africa."