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August 2011 - Vol 36, Mining and Industry Indaba

Platinum giant loses mining rights in Zimbabwe under black empowerment laws

Wed, Sep 07, 2011

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s black empowerment minister says he is ordering the withdrawal of the mining rights for the country’s biggest platinum producer.

Saviour Kasukuwere said Wednesday the South African-controlled Zimplats company failed to comply with an Aug. 31 deadline requiring foreign businesses to say how they propose to yield a 51 percent stockholding to black Zimbabweans.

He says the Zimplats license will be revoked in coming days, making it the first major mining enterprise to be suspended under the nation’s “indigenization” laws that critics say scare off much needed investment in the troubled economy.

Zimbabwe and South Africa are the world’s largest suppliers of platinum, a corrosion resistant metal with a wide range of industrial uses that is priced higher than gold.

By AP

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