Govt works on platinum value addition

Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT has stepped up efforts towards domestic platinum value addition as part of measures to ensure increased economic earnings from the country’s vast mineral resources.

Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando, said following the signing of a $4.2 billion deal between the Government and a Cyprus investor, Karo Resources, to develop a platinum mine and refinery, another investor has approached Government with the intention of further processing the mineral.

“We re-signed the $4.2 billion deal with Karo Resources. It included the setting up of a base metals and precious metal refinery but we are actually going further to see value addition of the platinum beyond the precious metal stage,” said Minister Chitando in an interview last Friday.

“Next week (this week) I am having a meeting with a potential investor who would like to work on value addition on platinum specifically the production catalytic converter in the country. So we are now talking beyond the refinery stage.”

Work at the Karo Resources project has been earmarked to start in July, with the first output of the platinum group of metals expected in 2020, aiming to reach 1.4 million ounces annually within three years.

Located in the Mhondoro-Ngezi platinum belt west of Harare where Impala Platinum Holdings has operations, the project will include a coal mine and power station to produce electricity for the smelter, and should employ 15 000 people when fully implemented, according to Karo head Loucas Pourolis.

Zimbabwe has the second-largest platinum reserves in the world after South Africa. The metal is the third largest foreign currency earner for Zimbabwe after tobacco and gold, but it is still being exported in a semi-processed state to South Africa for refining.

As a result, the Government ordered platinum miners to come up with plans to construct a platinum refinery as part of requirements under the value addition and beneficiation cluster in the country’s economic blueprint, Zim-Asset.

Zimbabwe has three established platinum producers — Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki — who have been producing approximately 13 tonnes (485 564 ounces) of platinum per year, a figure which could reach 20 tonnes (705 479 ounces) by 2020 if producers invest more in production.

@DNsingo