Construction of Darwendale platinum group metals project is set to commence next year. This was after the Great Dyke Investments (GDI) finalized the financing aspect of the project.
Project phases
The Darwendale project will be implemented in three phases and is expected to produce 860,000 ounces of PGM and gold per year at full capacity.
According to GDI chief executive Mr Igor Higer phase one of the project is estimated to cost US $500m targeting annual output of 280,000 ounces of platinum group metals and gold. “Afromet JSC now has equal 50% stakes in the project. The company is 100% owned by Russia’s investment and industrial group Vi Holding, which has spearheaded the Darwendale project since its inception in 2013,” he added.
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Benefits of the project
The platinum project will have a resource of 181-million tonnes of ore containing 17.1-million ounces of PGMs and gold, at an average grade of 2.93 g/t. Upon completion, the project is expected to create around 8,000 highly skilled jobs at full capacity. The project will also double the production of PGMs in the country.
GDI has planned to drill over 300 000 running meters, making the project one of the biggest exploration ventures in the country. The scope of work will be designed to prove the deposit resources in indicated category for longer than a 20-year mining period. The project implementation strategy provides for the phased creation of mining, smelting and processing operations.
Platinum mining
Zimbabwe is seeking to quickly exploit its reserves of platinum, which will be used in catalytic converters to limit emissions, at a time when vehicle manufacturers are boosting production of electric cars powered by lithium batteries. To put the scale of the mine’s potential into perspective; annual output for Zimbabwe, from the country’s three PGM mines, was 978,692 ounces in 2018.
