Zimplats

Stock performance

History

Zimplats developed the Ngezi platinum mine on the Great Dyke, a geological formation that holds one of the world's largest platinum-group metal deposits outside South Africa, with commercial mining starting at the turn of the 2000s. South Africa's Impala Platinum has been its majority owner since the early 2000s.

Business model

Zimplats mines ore at Ngezi, concentrates and smelts it in Zimbabwe, and sells matte containing platinum, palladium, rhodium, nickel, and other metals to Impala for refining. It is investing in a base-metals refinery and expanded smelting capacity to do more processing in Zimbabwe.

Market position

Zimplats is Zimbabwe's largest platinum-group metals producer, ahead of Mimosa and Unki, and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Country impact

Platinum-group metals are among Zimbabwe's largest exports alongside gold and tobacco, so Zimplats's output and royalties matter for foreign-currency earnings and the state budget. Its operations have also been shaped by Zimbabwe's indigenization rules and requirements to surrender part of export proceeds to the central bank.