HARARE — Aquarius Platinum Ltd and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd are assessing whether to dig a second shaft to expand production at their Mimosa platinum mine in Zimbabwe, Winston Chitando, chairman of the operation, said.
“We are in the process of undertaking a feasibility study,” Chitando said.
“There is work taking place in assessing various options,” he said, declining to give further details.
Mimosa is one of three operating platinum mines in Zimbabwe, which has the second-biggest reserves of the metal after South Africa.
Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Ltd, a unit of Johannesburg-based Impala, and Anglo American Platinum Ltd also run mines in the country.
Mimosa produced about 218 000 ounces of platinum group metals in its last financial year.
By law, mining companies operating in Zimbabwe must sell or cede 51% of their local assets to black citizens of the country or the government.
“There are discussions which are taking place with the government,” Chitando said.
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“So far we are happy with them.”
Meanwhile, the government is determining how to structure the sale of the country’s first international bond and is seeking advisers as it aims to raise financing to fund mining development, Walter Chidhakwa, the country’s Mines minister, said.
Chidhakwa said he would meet with Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa to discuss the plan ahead of the release of the country’s budget scheduled for next month.
“We haven’t worked out how much we are going to raise and who is actually going to work in putting together the bond,” Chidhakwa said in an October 26 interview at Mimosa platinum mine near Zvishavane, 299 kilometers south-west of Harare.
On October 10 Chidhakwa told an industrial conference in Bulawayo the government was considering a bond sale to create a fund to finance mining.
Companies including Rio Tinto Plc, Mwana Africa Plc and Anglo American Platinum Ltd dig minerals and metals ranging from diamonds to gold and platinum in Zimbabwe.
The platinum industry needs as much as $5,3 billion if it is to expand to produce more than 500 000 ounces of the metal and to construct precious and base metal refineries, the Platinum Producer Committee said in a report this month.
Production is forecast at 365 000 ounces this year, according to the group, which represents Impala, Anglo American Platinum and Aquarius.
Chidhakwa declined to comment further on the planned bond.
— Bloomberg News
