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 platinum group metals (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
The continued weakening of PGM prices and macroeconomics have resulted in the Karo platinum project timeline for commissioning being extended by 12 months to June 2025, with the opportunity to accelerate the timeline as markets become more favourable.
Karo started construction of bulk earthworks in December 2022 and the first concrete was poured in June 2023. In the same month, openpit pilot mining started with the objective of optimising the mining methods and producing 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.