By Derick Tsimba

Zimbabwe will soon commission two new platinum projects in May 2019 in a move that should see the country increasing the output of its platinum group of minerals, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Ministry of Mines and Mining Development on its twitter handle revealed that the Minister of Mines, Winston Chitando recently said Zimbabwe’s platinum production was going to face a positive growth as investment worth billions of dollars had resulted in the establishment of two platinum projects at Karo Resources in Ngezi and Great Dyke.

“There is progress on the $4 billion Karo Resources project in Ngezi and the $3 billion project in Darwendale is also on course, by the end of May 2019 there will be a field visit by Karo Resources to check on the progress of the work they have been doing enroute to implementation of agreements they signed with the Government of Zimbabwe.

“Great Dyke Investments recently received US$300 million financial boost from Russia following President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s visit earlier this year. Great Dyke Investment is at an advanced stage with the construction of the mine, the plant and the ancillary infrastructure which is expected to be completed no later than July this year,” said the Minister.

The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development is going to create thousands of jobs in Mashonaland West Province. Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest platinum reserves after South Africa. The country needs to build on its platinum production output and lead the world in the platinum group of minerals industry.