Mines Minister Under Pressure To Cancel Idle Platinum Deal | Report
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando could cancel Todal Mining’s licence after the investor reportedly abandoned the project.
The Todal Mining claims are adjacent to AngloPlat’s Unki Mine in Shurugwi, Midlands Province.
According to a report by The Zimbabwe Independent, Todal’s claims were taken from Anglo-American Platinum over a decade ago and handed to Central African Mining & Exploration.
The company was later bought by Eurasian Natural Resources, which later became Eurasian Resources Group.
The Zimbabwe Independent reported Ministry of Mines sources as saying authorities had not heard from Todal investors for a while now. Said a source:
The lack of development at Bokai and Kinonde concessions by Todal Mining has continued to be of concern to authorities.
Chitando is now under increasing pressure to cancel the deal at a time when investment in platinum mining continues to attract investors.
The proprietors of the project are nowhere to be found. They have literally dumped the project.
One of the local partners (name supplied) has been globetrotting and is nowhere to be found.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines, Pfungwa Kunaka, was quoted as saying:
There were indications that the project was being transferred to Defold, which is another parastatal.
We are still gathering information internally and will revert.
Defold is a parastatal in the ministry, which is now chaired by the former permanent secretary, Onismo Mazai Moyo.
The publication reported that Mazai said he could not comment as the transfer of Todal to Delford was not yet complete.
Todal’s local partner Valentine Garacho did not respond to questions.
Questions sent to Eurasia Resources Group via e-mail were also not responded to.
Todal was expected to produce an average of 150 000 tonnes of platinum ore per month over a 20-year period.
The investor, however, required a US$250 million investment to start operations.
Last year, Cabinet instructed Chitando to make a follow-up on the project. He reportedly informed Todal Mining that its concessions could be seized because no progress was made in developing them.
Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told a post-Cabinet briefing said then:
Cabinet also considered the need to get the Todal-Bokai Platinum Project next to Unki Mine into production as soon as possible so that it contributes to the US$12 billion mining industry milestone.
The mines minister was also tasked to follow up on the issue accordingly.
Zimbabwe has only three platinum projects in full production. Great Dyke Investments’ Darwendale project is yet to take off, while the Karo Resources project is still in its infancy.
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