Reuters Harare
Zimbabwe had accepted a proposal by the joint venture between Impala Platinum (Implats) and Aquarius Platinum to turn over a majority stake in the Mimosa mine to locals, Indigenisation Minister Savior Kasukuwere said yesterday.
Kasukuwere said the equal partnership between South Africa-based Implats and Bermuda-registered Aquarius would transfer 25 percent of the mine to a state fund, 10 percent each to workers and local communities and 6 percent to state employees.
“They have submitted a compliant 51 percent plan… to the ministry which has been accepted,” Kasukuwere said on the sidelines of an investment conference.
The proposal comes more than a week after Implats bowed to Harare’s demands that it transfer a similar stake in its Zimplats operation to locals. Implats said the Zimbabwean government would have to pay for the shares it wanted.
Yesterday Kasukuwere said the agreement with Implats should include an evaluation of assets and resources owned by Zimplats, but he did not give further details. “At the end of the day we want a win-win situation. We need a fair share of what is due to us,” he said.
Kasukuwere had previously said the government would not pay for shares in mines, arguing that it already owned the mineral resources in the ground. Zimbabwe is seen as a growth area for the platinum sector.