JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Zimbabwe was expected to be producing a million ounces of platinum a year in the next ten to 15 years, Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines president Victor Gapare said on Wednesday.

Gapare told the Omega Mining in Africa conference in Johannesburg that the country was currently producing at a rate of 170 000 oz/y and there were good prospects for growth.

He said that the development of the Zimplats and Mimosa operations were examples of the progress that could be made by the Zimbabwe mining industry in a liberalised macroeconomic environment.

"If you look at the development of the two operations, you can understand what a good fiscal arrangement can do to benefit a country.

"When you get to Zimplats or Mimosa, you think you're in a different country, because they are able to keep their money, they are able to invest money, and they are reaping the benefits," Gapare said.

On Zimbabwe Mining Minister Obert Mpofu making the point that Zimbabwe hosted the second-largest known platinum reserves in the world, Gapare said that there was a need to attract investment dollars to exploit the country's platinum riches.

Besides the two operating platinum mines, Gapare said that there was one project in an advanced stage of mine development and five projects under exploration.

He said that Zimbabwe's platinum operations were relatively shallow with mining costs that were still relatively low.

With the use of multicurrencies and the total disuse of the ignominiously discredited Zimbabwe dollar, Gapare said that inflation in Zimbabwe had plummeted from thousands of per cent to less than 3%, which had rendered the re-emerging country relatively competitive once more.

Mining companies were no longer obliged to surrender part of their foreign currency revenues to the government at subeconomical exchange rates.

"That's all gone, and we now get 100% of our forex," Gapare said.