Online Reporter
Nelson Gahadza
Zimpapers Business Hub
The Government says platinum group metal (PGM) producers will be required to move up the value chain and further beneficiate PGM matte to residue and ultimately isolate the individual metals, including platinum, palladium and rhodium.
PGM matte to residue processing involves leaching the base metals from the sulfide matte using acid (like sulfuric acid) with oxygen, leaving behind a PGM-rich solid residue that concentrates the precious metals for further refining, often through roasting and selective leaching to remove sulfur and other impurities before final precious metal recovery.
The policy thrust comes as Zimbabwe seeks to sharpen its focus on value addition and industrialisation as enunciated in the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) (2026-2030), Zimbabwe’s five-year economic blueprint to 2030.
According to the NDS2 policy document, the thrust will be underpinned by restrictions on exports of PGM concentrates, a move aimed at encouraging increased domestic beneficiation.
“In this regard, the Government will introduce restrictions on exports of PGM concentrate in order to encourage increased beneficiation and curtail the mine-to-port strategy,” Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said in the NDS2 policy document, which was launched late last year.
He noted that during the NDS1 period (2021-2025), PGMs mining houses made notable progress in beneficiating output, resulting in the country now having adequate capacity to process PGMs from concentrates to matte.
“The new requirement is designed to build on those gains by pushing producers into higher levels of processing, including the separation of individual metals, which command significantly higher value on global markets,” said Minister Ncube.
Zimbabwe is home to the world’s second-largest PGM deposits, largely concentrated along the mineral-rich Great Dyke.
The sector is anchored by three major producers, namely Zimplats, Unki and Mimosa, which together account for the bulk of national PGM output.
These producers are currently expanding their operations, while a pipeline of new projects is strengthening the sector’s long-term outlook.
Zimbabwe is pushing for PGM beneficiation to capture more economic value, create jobs, boost exports, reduce reliance on volatile commodity prices and drive industrialisation, shifting from exporting raw materials to higher-value processed products like jewelry or components, aligning with national goals like Vision 2030 for an upper-middle-income economy.
