Platinum
Platinum is a precious metal. A lustrous white metal with a high melting point, used in jewelry, dentistry and most recently as a catalyst in vehicle exhausts. There are deposits on the Great Dyke.
It's use as an anti-pollution catalyst, and sanctions against South Africa (one of the world's largest suppliers) from the 1980s, made the development of platinum in Zimbabwe much more important. Prior to this, Mimosa and Zinca mines on the Great Dyke produced virtually all of Rhodesia's platinum, and mainly a by-product of Copper and Nickel mining.
Platinum is mentioned on p33 Cartel Power Dynamics in Zimbabwe under the Case Study 5 The Mining Cartels.
In the early 2000s, Anglo American Platinum discovered the rich Bokai Platinum deposit and sold it for US$142 million (Togther with the Kironde deposit) to Todal Mining (Pvt) Ltd, (Anglo American. 2012. Anglo American Platinum Limited Announces the Approval of the Indigenisation Implementation Plan at Unki by the Zimbabwean Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment.) a joint venture company between the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) (60 per cent) and Lefever Finance Ltd (40 per cent). (News24. Anglo ‘shaken down’ in Zimbabwe. 8 June 2008) Lefever is registered in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven. (CAMEC. Acquisition of Platinum Assets. 11 April 2008)
Further reading
Mining in Zimbabwe
Zimplats
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
Great Dyke Investments
