Categories: Stories

Zimbabwe to construct $200 million platinum refinery with Australian firm

Zimbabwe plans to construct a 300 000 tonne platinum refining plant in a joint venture with an Australian-based firm Kelltech at an estimated cost of $200 million, Mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa said today

The southern African nation, which holds the world’s largest platinum deposits after South Africa, will only implement a ban on exports of  platinum concentrate after completing construction of the facility, Chidhakwa added, effectively postponing a punitive 15 percent tax meant to come into effect next year.

State-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Company (ZMDC) will have a 30 percent stake in the joint venture while Kelltech will control 49 percent, with the remaining 21 percent under a local partner only identified as Golden Sparrow, Chidhakwa said.

Construction of the refinery is expected to start next year and will take between 18 and 24 months, he added.

In 2013 government proposed a tax on raw platinum exports to compel mining companies to invest in smelting and refining capacity in Zimbabwe.

The tax was supposed to come into effect in January 2015 but was pushed to 2018 to allow the miners time to set up the facilities.

“We have been trying to use taxation but until we have established a facility to process locally the companies will continue to argue that we are being unfair. Once we have processing capacity locally we will institute a law that the amount of concentrate produced first takes care of the capacity that would have been established locally before it can be exported,”  Chidhakwa told journalists.  

Despite the miners constructing their own refinery facilities, Chidhakwa said they will be directed to process at the State-controlled facility.

Continued next page

(221 VIEWS)

Don't be shellfish... Please SHARE
Google
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
Email
Print

This post was last modified on May 17, 2017 2:19 pm

Page: 1 2

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Are Zimbabweans giving social media more credit than it deserves?

The role of social media on how people get their news in Zimbabwe is being…

May 3, 2024

Top 20 countries in debt to China- Zimbabwe is not one of them

Ten African countries are amongst the biggest debtors to China, but Zimbabwe is not among…

May 1, 2024

Is Zimbabwe now on the right track?

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Monetary Policy Committee, which met on Friday last week, says…

April 30, 2024

Watch: RBZ governor warns those selling ZiG at 20:1 could be buying it at 10:1 in June

Zimbabwe’s new currency further weakened to 13.4407 to the United States dollar today down from…

April 29, 2024

US loses its place as most influential power in Africa to China

The United States lost its place as the most influential global power in Africa last…

April 27, 2024

Zimbabwe central bank chief says street forex dealers cannot destabilise the ZiG

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mushayavanhu says street money changers who cash in…

April 26, 2024