Tharisa will seek to address some of these challenges through a subsidiary that already manages the transportation of its chrome ore through South Africa.
“There will be some challenges including logistics but I’d also like to touch on the positives. There are many major platinum companies which have been operating in Zimbabwe for years and there are a number of unlisted companies producing chrome profitably in Zimbabwe,” Jones said.
“We do have our own in-house logistics expertise that manages the movement of our chrome product through South Africa and this subsidiary has been tasked with finding the optimum solution for moving our Zimbabwean production,” he said.
Tharisa expects to have a pilot processing plant running at Salene Chrome within a year and to start work on open pit construction at Karo by 2020.
“For Salene Chrome we have submitted an environmental impact assessment. We will then undertake a trenching project and within 12 months we aim to have a pilot processing plant running. On Karo Platinum, I would expect to be commencing the first open pit construction by 2020,” Jones said.
The miner has not ruled out eventually producing ferro-chrome in Zimbabwe but has no near-term plans to do so, according to Jones.
This would most likely come as a result of a partnership, he added.
“I think we would look at possible ferro-chrome production in terms of joint ventures, working with existing companies. We are always looking at innovative ways to increase our participation in the value chain. So it’s not on the cards at the moment but there’s always a possibility,” he said.- Fastmarkets
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