Muller rates Zimbabwe better for mining operations...

Muller rates Zimbabwe better for mining operations than SA

Impala Platinum (Implats) CEO Nico Muller finds Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke his company’s best bet for future growth, and does hot have the same confidence in the South African environment.

“I think the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe is probably where I see the best potential for future expansion whether it’s us or any new entrants into the industry,” Muller said at the Joburg Indaba this week.

Implats runs Zimplats and has South African operations as well.

Muller says while many view Zimbabwe as high risk, the country has other factors going for it, and some of them may be “less obvious” to observers.

“And just speaking about Zimbabwe, we are driven by the value of the asset. Jurisdiction is important, it does impact on access to capital, but when we talk about jurisdiction, we associate it with policy uncertainty and all these things that Zimbabwe, in particular, is rated as a high-risk jurisdiction.

“But there are also other things that are sometimes less obvious, like the ability of the rest of the industry to support the mining industry, so manufacturing also, supportive industries, infrastructure, access to skills, appropriate skills, I think we’re gifted in Zimbabwe with the schooling systems.”

Implats announced a US$1.8 billion new investment in Zimbabwe to develop new mining areas and expand processing capacity.

He implied that South Africa has not yet settled into a defined space when it comes to corporate ownership, community role and employee expectations.

“Also when you compare it to South Africa, where I think we’re a fairly young democracy, we have requirements from different stakeholders in terms of expectations from the mining sector and growing social discontent where in Zimbabwe you find a much stronger alignment between for instance government, the communities and employees in terms of the expectations and regard for what the industry is doing.”

He further cited a much lower violent crime rate and better police response as positives in which Zimbabwe compares more favourably to South Africa.

“In many ways, it is therefore a lot simpler and more stable to operate our assets in Zimbabwe. Granted, we also have fantastically strong leadership in Zimbabwe (Zimplats), I’m not sure those things are spoken enough of,” Muller said.

Muller’s endorsement comes on the back of another by Invictus Managing director Scott MacMillan.

MacMillan recently said that Zimbabwe’s announced intent to reform is being carried out effectively.

https://zimbabwenow.co.zw/articles/521/invictus-md-says-zimbabwes-reforms-are-not-just-lip-service

The country has just repealed the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act removing the cumbersome 51 percent local ownership requirement.