Johannesburg- and London-listed mining and metals group Tharisa’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tharisa Minerals has agreed to sell 50% of the platinum group metal (PGM) concentrate produced at its Tharisa mine, in South Africa’s North West province, to Rustenburg Platinum Mines, a subsidiary of Valterra Platinum.

The multi-year agreement, effective from January 1, 2027, will result in Valterra replacing multinational metals and mining group Sibanye-Stillwater as a buyer of Tharisa’s PGMs concentrate.

Fellow South African PGMs producer Northam Platinum retains its existing offtake arrangement for the remaining 50% of the Tharisa mine’s PGM concentrate.

Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis says the agreement with Valterra to buy 50% of the Tharisa mine’s PGM concentrate, alongside Northam’s continued offtake, provides certainty for Tharisa’s PGM production.

The company adds that the PGM concentrate offtake agreement forms part of the broader cooperation between Tharisa and Valterra, with the parties having announced in August that Valterra would buy PGM concentrate from Tharisa’s Karo project, in Zimbabwe.

Tharisa says the partnership supports its strategic focus on innovation, resource efficiency and value creation across the beneficiation chain. The company notes that it is expected to strengthen offtake certainty, improve recoveries, reduce waste and enhance the resilience of supply chains.

In addition, Tharisa says it and Valterra are collaborating to explore opportunities for fine chrome recovery and beneficiation. The collaboration explores the use of Tharisa’s Vulcan X technology to recover fine chrome.

“With the pilot plant complete and testing under way, we are taking a tangible step towards deploying our proprietary fine chrome recovery technology.

“By combining Tharisa’s technology and operational capabilities with Valterra’s leading downstream processing expertise, we are well positioned to improve recoveries and deliver sustainable value for all stakeholders,” says Pouroulis.

Valterra CEO Craig Miller says Valterra is pleased to expand its relationship with Tharisa and further strengthen its third-party processing portfolio through the agreement.

“Our collaboration on fine chrome recovery and beneficiation is an important part of advancing opportunities to unlock value and enhance cash flow margins at Valterra Platinum.

“Our partnership demonstrates how Valterra leverages its own processing expertise and footprint together with Tharisa’s chrome technology to create enduring value for both companies and the wider PGM sector,” says Miller.