Zimbabwe cabinet approves joint-venture platinum mine with Kazakhstan

Zimbabwe’s cabinet has approved a Kazakhstan company, Todall, to mine platinum in the Midlands area of Zvishavane, bringing to four the number of platinum producers in Zimbabwe, Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidhakwa said Tuesday.

Chidhakwa said the new company, jointly owned by a Kazakh investor and the Kazakhstan Government, purchased the Bokai concession through the London Stock Exchange where it was sold by a Zimbabwean company which previously held the concession.

“There is a company that will be mining platinum very close to Chachacha in Zvishavane. This is a platinum resource which was allocated to a local company some time ago and the company went on to dispose of it on the London Stock Exchange,” the Mines Minister was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency New Ziana on Tuesday.

“These new investors recently approached us claiming the concession and indicated that they have since spent in excess of 60 million U.S. dollars on the ground through sinking two shafts and other developments,” he said.

“Cabinet was very unhappy about the part that the concession had actually been sold but it was agreed that they go on to mine,” Chidhakwa added.

Chidhakwa said state mining entity the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) is a partner in the platinum mining project.

The Bokai concession, which is found along the Great Dyke, has an estimated reserve of 15 million ounces of platinum.

The Zimbabwe government, through the ZMDC, recently created a joint venture company to a 200 million dollars platinum refinery to enable local processing of the mineral.

Currently, Zimbabwe’s platinum is processed in South Africa. Zimbabwe has the world’s second largest platinum reserves after South Africa.

Platinum is Zimbabwe’s second largest mineral export earner after gold. Enditem

Source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh

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