Tharisa Karo platinum project development in Zimbabwe

Tharisa Plc has advanced the development of the Karo platinum group metal (PGM) project in Zimbabwe through new regulatory and commercial agreements.

On August 24, 2026, Tharisa signed a 25-year special mining lease with the Zimbabwean government for the project located on the Great Dyke. The lease, signed at State House in Harare, aims to provide the “long-term security of tenure and fiscal certainty required to advance” the operation. While first production was delayed to 2027 due to previous fluctuations in PGM prices, the project is expected to produce 226,000 ounces of PGMs annually and employ over 1,000 people.

Following the lease agreement, Tharisa secured a binding five-year concentrate purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Valterra Platinum. This offtake deal covers both PGM and base metal concentrates produced by the project. Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis noted that the agreement strengthens the project’s bankability and provides “offtake certainty as development progresses.”