- Tharisa signs 25-year special mining lease for the Karo platinum project.
- Karo targets 226,000 oz of PGMs a year in its first phase.
- First production now expected in 2027, three years behind schedule.
- PGM prices recovered from mid-2025 as South African output declined.
By ZiMining/Reuters
THARISA Plc has signed a 25-year special mining lease with the government of Zimbabwe for its Karo platinum group metal (PGM) project, a key step in advancing one of the country’s largest planned mining investments, Reuters reported.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa attended the signing ceremony at State House in Harare on Monday, according to Tharisa’s own statement to investors. The agreement covers 23,903 hectares on the Great Dyke, Zimbabwe’s mineral-rich geological belt, and secures tenure for the project’s full 25-year initial term.
Tharisa is an integrated PGM and chrome producer operating in South Africa. It is developing the Karo project in Zimbabwe through its subsidiary, Karo Platinum. The project is expected to produce 226,000 ounces of PGMs a year in its first phase, Reuters reported, and Tharisa says it will employ more than 1,000 people once fully ramped up.
First production is now expected in 2027, three years behind the original schedule. Reuters reported the delay followed a sharp decline in PGM prices between 2023 and 2024. That decline came as expectations of electric vehicle growth dampened the outlook for PGMs, which are mainly used in catalytic converters, a technology pure battery EVs don’t need.
Prices recovered from mid-2025, Reuters reported, as output from South Africa, the top PGM producer, continued to decline while EV adoption grew more slowly than expected.
Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said the special mining lease gives the project “the long-term security of tenure and fiscal certainty required to advance” it, aacording to Reuters. The lease also brings fiscal incentives, including a reduced 15% corporate tax rate, according to Tharisa’s investor disclosures.
Karo Platinum is 85% owned by Karo Mining Holdings, in which Tharisa holds a 78.81% stake. The remaining 15% is held by the Zimbabwean government through Generation Minerals, on an unencumbered free-carry basis. Tharisa has invested more than $240 million in the project to date, and has previously put Karo’s open-pit mineral reserve at 2.1 million ounces, with a resource base of 11.2 million ounces and potential for a mine life beyond 50 years.
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