Zimbabwe central banker stockpiles gold to bolster ZiG currency
The ZiG - short for Zimbabwe gold — is the nation’s sixth attempt at having a functioning local currency in the last 15 years.
Tharisa Plc has issued a $50 million bond as it moves to raise $391 million to build a 194,000 ounce per year platinum group metal (PGM) mine in Zimbabwe, the platinum producer said on Friday.
Tharisa, a co-producer of chrome concentrates and PGMs in South Africa, owns 70% of Karo Mining Holdings, developer of the Karo PGM project on Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, about 100 kilometres south-west of the capital Harare.
The bond, which is not rated, is the first issued on Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Stock Exchange and will be guaranteed by the company, it said.
Tharisa said the bond is US$ denominated and will be issued by way of private placement, with the proceeds used to partly fund the Karo platinum project.
“We expect strong participation from Zimbabwean investors in particular,” Tharisa Chief Executive Officer Phoevos Pouroulis said in a statement.
Earlier this month, he said the ground-breaking for the first phase of the Karo mine would take place in December 2022, with mine construction expected to be completed by July 2024.
(By Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Louise Heavens)
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