Tharisa's Karo Platinum secures 25-year mining lease in Zimbabwe

Karo Platinum and the government of Zimbabwe signed a 25-year special mining lease at a ceremony at State House in Harare on 24 August 2026, attended by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Granted under Zimbabwe's Mines and Minerals Act, the lease covers 23,903 hectares and sets out the long-term fiscal and operating terms under which the platinum group metals project will be developed.

A slower build than planned

Karo Platinum is 85% owned by Karo Mining Holdings, in which Tharisa, the JSE- and LSE-listed integrated PGM and chrome producer, holds a 78.17% stake. First production from the project, expected to yield 226,000 ounces of PGMs annually in its first phase, is now guided for 2027, three years behind the schedule set out when the project was first announced, after a sharp fall in PGM prices between 2023 and 2024 forced a rethink of the construction timeline.

Why it matters

The signing gives Karo Platinum long-term security of tenure, a precondition for arranging the remaining project financing needed to complete construction, and follows a period in which several Southern African PGM developers, including Southern Palladium's Bengwenyama project in South Africa, have similarly had to wait years for prices to recover before committing to full-scale construction. For Zimbabwe, a 25-year lease on a major new platinum project reinforces the country's position as a growing PGM producer alongside its dominant position in African lithium.

What happens next

With the lease secured, Karo Platinum's task is completing construction financing and the remaining build-out needed to reach first production in 2027. The delay already absorbed by the project means investors will be watching closely for any further schedule slippage as construction resumes in earnest.

Sources

• Mining Weekly: Karo Platinum secures 25yr special mining lease in Zimbabwe, 24 Aug 2026
• Ecofin Agency: Zimbabwe Grants 25-Year Lease for Major Platinum Project, 25 Aug 2026

Photo: Zimbabwe's Great Dyke, host to the Karo Platinum project. ISS Expedition 25 crew, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.