The Republic of Zimbabwe and Karo Mining Holdings is pleased to announce that a ground breaking ceremony was held today to mark the official start of the Karo Platinum project.

Karo Platinum, which is jointly held by the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Karo, is the first of four large projects that will be undertaken as part of the development of a large scale vertically integrated Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) mining complex in Zimbabwe.

The ceremony celebrated an important milestone for the Government of Zimbabwe, as the Karo mining complex marks the first significant investment in Zimbabwe under its new dispensation. Karo Platinum is also expected to become a flagship low-cost mine and a prominent mine within the country.

Around 250 people attended the ceremony in support of the project, including His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Hon E.D. Mnangagwa; Vice President Hon. Gen. (Rtd) Dr. C. G. D. N. Chiwenga and the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. W Chitando.

Karo chairman Loucas Pouroulis said:
“We are very excited about partnering with the Republic of Zimbabwe and its people in building a long term and sustainable business in what is one of the most remarkable geological addresses in the world. Zimbabwe has not only been blessed with an extraordinary metal and mineral endowment – it has been blessed with a vibrant, hard-working, skilled and driven population, which despite the challenges of the last 20 or so years, is now facing an exciting future of not only rebuilding this great nation, but turning it into a leading nation to rival any in southern Africa.”

Awarded the PGM mining rights under a Special Grant, that covers an area of 23 903 hectares situated on the Great Dyke in the Mashonaland West District of Zimbabwe, Karo Platinum will spend US$8 million on a geological exploration programme to confirm and delineate the orebody before progressing to the bankable feasibility study.
Based on publicly available geological exploration results previously undertaken over the License Area, Karo considers this to be a highly prospective area which is estimated to contain some 96 million ounces (Moz) at a projected resource grade of 3.2 grams per ton (g/t) on a 4E (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) basis. This significant resource on the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe, is the world’s largest known PGM deposit outside of South Africa.

Karo Platinum will be responsible for the open cast and underground mining of the platinum concession, which is expected to mine approximately 14.4 million tons per annum (Mtpa) of run of mine ore. The conceptual designs are based on the operation of four open pit mining operations, the first of which will begin operation in 2020.

The scalable nature of the project allows for a staged transition to underground operations at a later date. This material will be processed by Karo Refining. Karo Refining will include the concentration, smelting and refining to produce PGMs, and will include a base metal and precious metal refinery.

At steady state, the platinum mining complex is expected to produce 1.4 Moz of refined PGMs per annum. The refineries will be capable of treating up to 2.0 Moz of PGMs per year, providing an additional 0.6 Moz for toll refining to be utilised by other PGM producers in the country, thereby encouraging other producers to beneficiate raw materials before export.

The integrated mining and refining complex includes the establishment of a 300 MW solar power plant, which will feed power into the Zimbabwean electricity grid.

The project could generate up to 15 000 direct jobs and 75 000 indirect jobs across the value chain. Tharisa, a Johannesburg and London listed company, PGMs and chrome concentrate co-producer, recently acquired a 26.8% stake in Karo. Tharisa has established itself as a robust innovative Group with a proven track record of taking mines from prospecting to production.

Tharisa owns and operates Tharisa Minerals, located on the Bushveld Complex in South Africa. The Karo Mining Holdings acquisition is Tharisa’s second project in Zimbabwe after the acquisition of a 90% stake in Salene Chrome, the holder of Special Grants over an area of approximately 9 500 hectares of highly prospective illuvial chrome properties on the eastern side of the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe.