Chronicle Editor
Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT has pledged to provide fiscal incentives to Zimplats in recognition of its efforts to set up a refinery for base metals and precious stones to promote beneficiation of the minerals.
Unki and Mimosa mines who are also platinum producers have joined Zimplats to finance the establishment of the country’s first base metal refinery. The $134 million project was initially marked to process the metal from Zimplats, the country’s largest platinum miner.
Responding to questions from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development chairperson, Mr Temba Mliswa, who is also the legislator for Norton in Parliament on Wednesday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said: “The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development together with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should come up with the financial implications of the fiscal incentives and the projected value of the refinery in order to evaluate the benefits of extending value addition and beneficiation to a private company.
“The envisaged incentives should be articulated also taking into account the existing incentives for platinum producers operating under the special mining lease regime where corporate tax is payable at a reduced rate of 15 percent against the general rate of 25 percent.”
In the 2019 national budget presented last month, Prof Ncube explained why Government had postponed a 15 percent tax on the exportation of un-beneficiated platinum, which was introduced to compel mining companies to expeditiously transition towards beneficiation of the mineral.
“In view of the progress and commitments made by PGM producers towards beneficiation, I propose to postpone export tax to January 1, 2022,” said Prof Ncube.
He said Government was finalising the mineral value addition and beneficiation policy to improve domestic smelting and refining, to take advantage of the immediate scope for income and exports generation offered by minerals such as platinum, chrome, lithium, nickel, diamond, copper, gold and coal. Zimbabwe is set to be among a few countries in the world to successfully establish a base metal refinery. At present only South Africa, United States of America and Russia have base metal refinery facilities and if established, Zimbabwe’s base metal refinery will be the 6th platinum base metal refinery in the world. — @okazunga.
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