- Tharisa prices a $300 million bond to fund Karo’s construction.
- Bond completes a trilogy of milestones: lease, offtake and now funding.
- First ore to the mill at Karo still targeted for Q4 2027.
- Karo expected to more than double Tharisa’s group PGM output.
THARISA Plc has secured the funding needed to build its Karo Platinum Project in Zimbabwe, pricing a $300 million bond that the company says completes three milestones underpinning the project’s development, Tharisa said in a statement.
The JSE and LSE-listed miner said that over the past three weeks it signed a Special Mining Lease Agreement with the Zimbabwean government, concluded a long-term offtake agreement with Valterra, and priced a five-year senior secured Nordic bond, securing tenure, validating demand, and now funding construction.
“The completion of these three foundational milestones … marks a transformative moment for Tharisa,” CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said in the statement. “By pricing our inaugural US$300 million Nordic bond, we have not only de-risked the Karo Platinum Project but also introduced a new, sophisticated international investor base to the Tharisa growth story.”
The bond, issued at 98% of par with an 11.00% annual coupon through Tharisa subsidiary Arxo Finance plc, drew interest from more than 150 international institutional investors across Europe, the UK, the Middle East, North America and Asia, according to the statement. Proceeds will sit in escrow pending release conditions and go primarily toward completing Karo’s construction, with first ore to the mill expected in the fourth quarter of 2027.
The bond will list on the ABM Fast Entry within 60 days, and later on the Euronext Oslo Stock Exchange or another exchange within 12 months, Tharisa said. DNB Carnegie and HSBC acted as joint bookrunners.
Beyond Karo, Tharisa said its shift to underground mining at its flagship Tharisa Mine in South Africa remains on schedule and within budget. The Apollo underground complex, which began development in March, is progressing toward its first run-of-mine ore this quarter, targeting steady-state production of 255,000 tonnes a month by the third quarter of 2029. A second underground complex, Orion, is expected to follow, aiming for first ore in the 2031 financial year.
Together, the company said, both complexes should extend mining at Tharisa Mine more than 60 years beyond the current open pit.
Tharisa pointed to a strengthening price backdrop for the milestones. Platinum traded above $1,800 an ounce in early September, near multi-month highs, while rhodium and palladium have strengthened from earlier lows. Tharisa said ruthenium and iridium continue to draw demand from AI and renewable energy applications, helping push its spot PGM basket price to $2,719 an ounce, alongside spot chrome prices of $290 a tonne.
Once complete, Tharisa said, Karo will add a second Tier 1 PGM asset to its portfolio and more than double the group’s PGM output.
