Zimbabwe's mega platinum project takes off

A multibillion dollar platinum project signed between Zimbabwe and Russian investors late last year has started, it will produce a concentration of 10 million tonnes of ore per annum after completion, state media reported Monday

Zimbabwean firm, Pen East Investments and Russia's JCS Afronet commissioned a 3-billion-U.S.-dollar platinum mining project, the biggest joint venture government has ever entered with a foreign investor since independence.

The joint-venture, Great Dyke Investments (GDI) based in Darwendale 62 km west of Harare, will produce at least one million ounces of platinum annually.

GDI board chairperson, Hesphina Rukato said the project is was expected to create more than 15 000 jobs in the next decade when the firm starts operating, according to local newspaper the Herald.

The Darwendale is part of the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe, a 550- kilometer mineral range, and is estimated at 40 million ounces of PGMs.

The project would be implemented in three phases with the first running from 2014 to 2017 and will consist of exploration and infrastructure establishment as well as construction and commissioning of the first stage of facilities for mining.

Russians have already secured funding for the project, whose investment is expected to reach at least 4.2 billion U.S. dollars over the next decade.

Rich with mineral resources, Zimbabwe holds the second largest platinum reserves in the world after South Africa and is the third producer of the white metal after South Africa and Russia.

The world's two largest platinum producers, South Africa-based Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum already have platinum operations in Zimbabwe. Endi