Nigerian billionaire kicks off platinum exploration
had started its exploration work last month.
“They started after lockdown regulations were eased,” the deputy minister said.
“They started in September and they haven’t done a lot of work so far.”
Mines minister Winston Chitando said Bravura, would announce an update on its operations soon.
“They are about to start,” Chitando said. Bravura joins three miners in ZimbabweMimosa Mining Company, Unki and Zimplats, who are already exploiting platinum in the country.
When the deal was signed last year, figures of up to US$50 million in potential investment were thrown on the table.
Bravura is expected to eventually sink more than US$250 million in Zimbabwe’s platinum industry.
Zimbabwe has also signed a deal with Russian investors under Great Dyke Investments (GDI), which is 50% owned by Russia’s Vi Holding.
The company recently announced that the African Export-Import Bank had completed a due diligence study giving it the green light to a US$500 million funding programme for the first phase of the project.
So far, investors say they have spent over US$100 million on the Darwendale-based miner for exploration and construction of two mine portals with production of platinum ore expected in 2021.
A specialised aircraft carrying the latest in exploration technology was unveiled at the official signing ceremony of the Bravura deal.
The company procured three drill rigs in November 2019 and started recruitment for key staff in exploration.
Zimbabwe hopes to achieve a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023, from current output of about US$2 billion.
Mining carries the country’s hopes of economic recovery after years of political and economic turmoil derailed immense potential that the country exhibited at independence in 1980.