Name of the Project
Darwendale platinum group metals (PGMs) project.
Location
Great Dyke, Zimbabwe.
Project Owner/s
JSC Afromet Joint Stock Company, a unit of Russian businessman Vitaly Machitski’s Vi Holdings, and Zimbabwe's Kuvimba Mining House (KMH), each held 50% of Great Dyke Investments (GDI). Afromet exited the GDI joint venture in June 2022, in the wake of Russia’s invasion Ukraine.
Project Description
The Darwendale deposit is a part of the Great Dyke, one of the world’s largest systems of PGMs mineralisation, with shallow-dipping orebodies. The project has a resource of 181-million tonnes of ore containing 17.1-million ounces of PGMs and gold at an average grade of 2.93 g/t.
The project entails the construction of a PGMs mine and processing plant.
Envisaged is the gradual construction of mining, concentrating and smelting facilities, with all related infrastructure, in three stages.
The project will process up to ten-million tons of ore a year to eventually produce up to 855 000 oz/y of PGMs and gold, with Phase 1 of the project expected to produce about 280 000 oz/y of PGMs and gold.
A two-stage expansion plan will later increase production to about 860 000 oz/y of PGMs and gold.
The project has a mine life of about 15 years.
Potential Job Creation
About 1 350 jobs will be created with the development of Phase 1 of the project.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.
Capital Expenditure
Phase 1 – $650-million.
Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.
Latest Developments
The board of directors of Kuvimba Mining House (KMH) announced in June 2022 that KMH had concluded negotiations to buy 50% of the shares in Great Dyke Investments from Afromet.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
DRA (bankable feasibility study); Loesche, MSA Group, TOMS Institute and Metallicon (engineering and process design); PwC and SFA Oxford (analytical support); Cresco Project Finance and EY (financial advisers); and FATA, part of Danieli Group (platinum concentrator).
Contact Details for Project Information
GDI, tel +263 242 745659 or email info@greatdykeinvest.com.