Name of the Project
Karo platinum project.
Location
The Great Dyke, in the Mashonaland West district of Zimbabwe.
Project Owner/s
Karo Platinum, which is jointly owned by the government of Zimbabwe and Karo Mining Holdings.
Tharisa is a 70% shareholder in Karo Mining, which, in turn, indirectly owns 85% of the Karo Platinum project, with the government of Zimbabwe holding the remaining 15% of the project on a free-carry basis.
Project Description
The project has initial probable reserves of 35.5-million tonnes at 2.31 g/t and 2.5-million ounces of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold.
Proposed is a Tier 1 openpit, scalable, low-cost and -risk project, which will be developed in phases.
Its development will comprise the sequential opening of four openpits. The first pit to be developed will have a strike length of 7.6 km and an ultimate pit depth of 99 m, with a life of six years. Thereafter, the other pits will be developed.
Karo will process about 2.5-million tonnes a year of ore and produce 190 000 oz/y of six-element PGMs over its 17-year life-of-mine.
The integrated mining and refining complex includes the establishment of a 300 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant, which will feed power into the Zimbabwe electricity grid.
Potential Job Creation
As at June 30, 2023, Karo employed 540 people on site, of whom 99 are Karo employees, with the balance being contractor employees. Most of these employees are drawn from the local community.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value, at a 10% discount rate (excluding in situ inferred resources) of $413-million and an internal rate of return of 26.1%.
Capital Expenditure
Total capital expenditure for Phase 1 is estimated at $391-million.
Planned Start /End Date
First ore in the mill is planned for July 2024.
Latest Developments
Karo Mining has confirmed that the first concrete pour at the Karo mining project took place in June after construction of bulk earthworks began in December last year.
Also in June, openpit pilot mining started to optimise the mining methods and produce ore to further test and refine metallurgical processing.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Karo Mining Holdings, email info@karomining.com.