Platinum mine under evaluation in Zimbabwe

Australian-based BHP Minerals has nearly finished evaluating a potential new platinum mine in Zimbabwe.

BHP is earning a 67% interest from Delta Gold by completing a feasibility study and, if positive, funding development of a mine in the Great Dyke area. The joint-venture partners will decide, before the new year, whether or not to commit to the US$200-million Hartley project, reports international securities firm S.G. Warburg.

If they decide to go ahead, an underground mine could be brought into production by 1996, with a buildup to full-scale production (180,000 tonnes per month) by 1998.

The associated smelter could then be producing by the end of 1996, with an eventual output of 150,000 oz. platinum and 110,000 oz. palladium per year, plus amounts of rhodium, gold, nickel and copper.

Hartley would add significantly to world platinum production, currently some 3.2 million oz. per year. With potential revenues of US$130 million per year, the project would give a boost to Zimbabwe’s mining industry and national economy.

Efforts to develop the platinum group metal potential of the Great Dyke have a long history, but Hartley would be the first commercial platinum mine to be developed in Zimbabwe.

Delta’s involvement dates from 1986 when it applied for and was granted exploration rights to an area covering a strike distance of more than 60 km.