Karo Platinum Private Limited, a unit of South Africa’s Tharisa plc, has secured a 25-year Special Mining Lease for a platinum group metals (PGM) project in Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke. The lease, covering 23,903 hectares, was signed in Harare in the presence of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and government ministers, including Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and Mines Minister Dr. Eng. Polite Kambamura.
The project, located within the Great Dyke’s mineral-rich belt, holds an open-pit Mineral Reserve of 2.1 million ounces of 4E PGMs, alongside a broader Mineral Resource of 11.2 million ounces. Karo Platinum is 85% owned by Karo Mining Holdings, while the Zimbabwean government holds a 15% free-carry stake through Generation Minerals. Tharisa, the parent company, is dual-listed on the Johannesburg and London stock exchanges.
Phase 1 of the project is slated to employ over 1,000 workers and target annual production of 226,000 ounces of PGMs. Kumbirayi Katsande, Chairman of Karo Platinum, described the agreement as providing long-term certainty for the project’s progression. Phoevos Pouroulis, CEO of Tharisa, emphasized the economic impact, noting the employment and production targets aligned with the project’s scale.
Development of the project has already seen investments exceeding $240 million, with further capital expected as operations ramp up. The lease, granted under Zimbabwe’s Mines and Minerals Act, marks a key step in expanding PGM output from the Great Dyke, a region historically dominated by South Africa’s Bushveld Complex.
