Impala Platinum To Invest $10 Billion US In Zimbabwe

IMPALA PLATINUM TO INVEST US$10 BILLION IN ZIMBABWE

 

Written by Kabelo Mpyatona
Tuesday, 30 August 2011 12:09

IMPALA Platinum Holdings Limited, the world’s second-largest producer of the precious metal is to invest over US$10 billion in Zimbabwe to expand production. This follows after the government of Zimbabwe passed a law earlier this year to force foreign companies to cede at least 51% of their local assets to black Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe has the world’s largest platinum reserves after South Africa and this makes Impala the biggest investor in Zimbabwean mining currently.

According to a Company statement, the Impala unit, now known as Zimplats Holdings Limited, produced 182,100oz of platinum in this year to 30 June and is in the middle of a US$460 million expansion of its Ngezi mine to boost output to 270,000oz by 2014. The mining company could be looking at starting phase three of the project and beyond, which requires stability.

Impala has until Wednesday of this week to revise its May proposal to satisfy ownership rules, after it was rejected last week. Impala, which produces about 25% of the world’s platinum, is spending R35 billion over the next five years to expand production as rising demand drives up prices. While most of its deposits are in South Africa, 11.3Moz, or almost a third of its total platinum reserves, are in Zimbabwe. That’s worth about US$21 billion at the current platinum price.