eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Karo Mining Holdings (KMH), a resources exploitation firm that is developing a Tier 1 platinum group metals (PGMs) mining operation in Zimbabwe, is expected to create thousands of jobs – direct and across its value chains.
In terms of direct employment, the vast mining operation is projected to employ 1000 stuff and an estimated additional 7 000 indirect employments.
This comes as the mining sector has been identified as a key enabler to economic growth contributing significantly to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The country is angling to become an upper middle income economy by 2030 as espoused in Government’s Vision 2030. The economic blue print — National Development Strategy (NDS1), provides the roadmap to that aspiration where mining, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism among other sectors are expected to contribute significantly to economic growth, which also comes at a time the country is recovering from the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zimbabwe is also aspiring to have a US$12 billion mining revenue by 2025 backed by increased production while leveraging on technology for production efficiencies as well as value addition.
Now, the KMH project is a long-life asset that will be developed in phases to extract the PGM and base metal resources with capacity to increase GDP by 2 percent.
“The initial phase of the Karo Project is estimated to increase Zimbabwe’s PGM production by some 18,7 percent and grow the country’s GDP by circa 2 percent.
“It will also result in the creation of an estimated 1 000 direct employment opportunities with an estimated 7 000 additional indirect employment opportunities as a result of the multiplier effect,” said the group in a Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) bond prospectus.
Meanwhile, KMH is seeking to raise US$50 million through the issue of the bond by way of private placement to part fund the Karo Project, the successful development of which will introduce a fourth significant PGM producer entrenching Zimbabwe as a key global producer and most importantly opening up a significant long-life source of these versatile metals.
The development of the Karo Project follows the entering into of the investment framework agreement and amendments thereto, in terms of which KMH, through its 85 percent held subsidiary Karo Platinum, was awarded a special grant over a concession area covering 23 903 hectares located in Chegutu.
The special grant was subsequently superseded by a mining lease over the same concession area providing security of tenure for the life of mine. The project is situated in a designated Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
