Tharisa's Karo Platinum signs 25-year special mining lease with Zimbabwe

Karo Platinum, the Zimbabwean project controlled by JSE-listed Tharisa, has signed a 25-year Special Mining Lease Agreement with the government of Zimbabwe, settling the fiscal framework for one of the largest undeveloped platinum group metal (PGM) deposits on the Great Dyke.

The agreement was signed in Harare on 24 August 2026 in the presence of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. It covers Karo's 23,903ha mining area and sets out the fiscal and operating terms that will apply to the development.

Why the lease matters

Fiscal certainty was the missing piece in Karo's funding. In May, Tharisa said it had reached agreement with the government on the substantive fiscal arrangements. Its then chief financial officer, Michael Jones, explained that lenders needed assurance that the project could remit and pay in dollars, and that fiscal stability provisions were central to any funding package. Provisions discussed for the lease included a 15% corporate tax rate and duty-free importation of capital goods.

Chief executive Phoevos Pouroulis said the lease gives Karo the framework to move towards production, following construction that began in December 2022 and pilot mining that started in June 2023.

The project

Karo holds an open-pit mineral reserve of 2.1Moz and an open-pit mineral resource of 11.2Moz on a 4E basis. Underground mining could extend its life beyond 50 years. The first phase is designed to produce 226,000oz of PGMs a year at full ramp-up, which would take Tharisa's group production to just under 400,000oz a year. Tharisa produced 138,300oz in its 2025 financial year.

Karo Platinum is 85% owned by Karo Mining Holdings, in which Tharisa has a controlling interest. The government holds the remaining 15% through Generation Minerals on a free-carried basis. Tharisa had invested more than $240m in the project by the time the lease was signed.

Next steps

The lease was the first of three quick steps. Within days Tharisa announced a five-year offtake agreement under which Valterra Platinum will take concentrate from Karo, and in early September it began marketing a $300m bond to fund the remaining capital for the $545m mine. Securing tenure was the precondition for both.

For Zimbabwe, which already hosts the Zimplats, Mimosa and Unki mines, Karo would add a fourth significant PGM producer on the Great Dyke. Tharisa expects first ore to be fed to the Karo mill in 2027.

Sources

• Miningmx: Karo Platinum secures 25-year mining deal in Zimbabwe, 24 Aug 2026
• Miningmx: Tharisa to raise $300m bond for Karo Platinum, 02 Sept 2026
• Miningmx: Tharisa agrees fiscal rules with Zimbabwe for $545m project, 21 May 2026

Photo: The southern end of the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe, the geological structure that hosts the country's platinum deposits. ISS Expedition 25 crew, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.