HARARE, Aug. 27 (NewsDay Live) — Tharisa Plc has secured a five-year concentrate purchase agreement with Valterra Platinum Ltd for platinum group metals and base metal concentrate from its Karo Platinum Project in Zimbabwe, providing a key boost to efforts to bring the Great Dyke project into production.
Tharisa said Thursday that Karo Platinum (Pvt) Ltd had signed a binding term sheet with a Valterra subsidiary for the offtake of concentrate from the project.
The agreement, initially running for five years and based on customary platinum group metals industry terms, provides Karo with offtake certainty as the company advances the project toward first production.
“Securing a concentrate purchase agreement with a partner of Valterra’s standing and high-quality downstream processing footprint is a significant milestone for Karo Platinum, providing offtake certainty as we advance the project towards first production,” Tharisa chief executive Phoevos Pouroulis said.
“This agreement underpins the bankability of Karo, reflects the quality of the asset and reinforces the partnership-led approach that has been central to Tharisa’s development since inception.”
Tharisa said it viewed Valterra as an ideal partner for the next phase of Karo’s development and expected cooperation between the two companies to deepen as the project progressed.
Valterra chief executive Craig Miller said the deal reflected the company’s confidence in the fundamentals of the PGM market and Tharisa’s ability to develop Karo on Zimbabwe’s mineral-rich Great Dyke.
“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Tharisa for the concentrate produced at Karo Platinum,” Miller said.
“The agreement reflects our confidence in the fundamentals of the PGM market and Tharisa’s ability to develop this project on the high-quality mineralised zone of Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke.”
He said the agreement would enhance Valterra’s third-party processing portfolio and lay the foundation for a long-term relationship between the two companies.
Karo Platinum is one of the largest undeveloped PGM assets on the Great Dyke, with an open-pit mineral reserve of 2.1 million ounces on a four-element basis and a mineral resource of 11.2 million ounces, according to Tharisa.
The company said the resource, together with the potential for underground mining, supported a mine life of more than 50 years.
The agreement follows Karo Platinum’s Special Mining Lease Agreement with the Zimbabwean government, which Tharisa said provided the tenure and fiscal certainty needed to advance the project toward first production.
Tharisa, a Cyprus-based mining company listed in Johannesburg and London, owns 78.81% of Karo Mining Holdings Plc, which holds an 85% interest in Karo Platinum. The Zimbabwean government, through Generation Minerals (Pvt) Ltd, holds the remaining 15% on an unencumbered free-carry basis.
The deal also brings together two companies with established interests in Zimbabwe’s platinum sector. Valterra owns the Unki Platinum Mine, while Tharisa is developing Karo as part of its strategy to expand its PGM business.
Tharisa said Karo was a tier-one PGM project and a key part of its broader growth strategy.
The post Tharisa seals five-year Karo concentrate deal with Valterra appeared first on newsday.
