Zimbabwe to announce more PGM investors

Government will, in the next few weeks, announce at least two more investors that are expected to deploy huge foreign capital in the country's platinum sector as scores of local and foreign investors fall in love with the Government's "Zimbabwe is Open for Business" mantra.

The platinum sector is one of the few sectors in the economy that is expected to create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly through the provision of additional technical expertise from the local market and other key services.

The move is part of Government efforts to fully utilise the country's mineral deposits as one of the key strategies to feed into President Mnangagwa's Vision 2030, by which time Zimbabwe should attain upper middle income earning status with a per capita of US$3 500.

The mining sector is largely expected to drive this vision and the President has set a US$12 billion annual export target for the sector, up from US$3, 2 billion achieved in 2018. It is against this background that a lot of investment luring strategies are being undertaken premised on the President's "Zimbabwe is open for business" mantra.

The impending announcement comes hard on the heels of an historic US$4,2 billion investment by Cyprus based Karo Resources into the country's PGM sector that is expected to make Karo the country's biggest PGM producer.

Government envisages that Karo could even produce more platinum than the already existing miners, Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki, combined, a development likely to trigger competition in the production of the mineral in the country.

Said Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando; "We do have four geological platinum ore bodies in the country, the snake's head right at the top, the Muchingwe area where Mimosa is mining, in between we have two other platinum geological complexes which are the Shurugwi ore body and the Ngezi Geological complex."

He added; "In simple terms one can look at the Ngezi geological complex and it can be subdivided into four, the area which is held by Zimplats, the area which has been granted to Karo Resources and two others which I won't mention.

"The whole idea of the development, which is to ensure that all the ore bodies in the Shurugwi geological complex and the Ngezi geological complexes are made operational and that certainly will be achieved, which means the two others in the Ngezi geological complex and the one other in the Shurugwi geological complex in a few weeks will be concluded and made public."

Other minerals expected to feed into the US$12 billion export target include gold, lithium, diamonds, and chrome among others.

In the gold sector, production is being primed to jump from a record breaking 33,2 tonnes to a projected 40 tonnes this year and ultimately 100 tonnes by 2023, according to the Government strategy.

In diamonds, state miner, the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) is expected to haul 4,1 million carats this year up from 2,8 million last year and has been working on a deliberate capitalisation programme to boost conglomerate diamond mining.

In the chrome sector, international interest has already started and the decision by the International Chrome Development Association (ICDA) to hold their 35th annual meeting in Victoria Falls early next month is a sign of global chrome players' interest in the Zimbabwean market.

Platinum is used in catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts and electrodes, platinum resistance thermometers, dentistry equipment and jewelry.