Zimplats: Licence hasn't been cancelled

Johannesburg - Zimplats, which is 87% owned by SA's Impala Platinum Holdings [JSE:IMP], said on Thursday its operating licence has not been cancelled and discussions between management and the relevant authorities in this regard are ongoing.

Word is that the company has proposed that an arbitrator resolve its dispute with the government, and especially Saviour Kasukuwere. The minister of youth development, indigenisation and empowerment had threatened to revoke the company's licence amid moves to put a 51% ownership stake of foreign companies in the hands of black Zimbabweans.

Zimplats is Zimbabwe's largest platinum producer and Implats has lifted its stake considerably from just 36% in 2002. There is a lot at stake as Zimplats trebled its profit to $85m for the six months to December 2010, while in 2007 it had reported a 217% surge in profits.

Zimplats on Thursday confirmed it was in receipt of a letter dated September 6 in which Kasukuwere advised that the company's indigenisation plan did not meet minimum requirements of the law and accordingly, had requested the minister of mines and mining development to cancel the company's operating licence.

This development follows several meetings between management and the relevant authorities on the Zimplats indigenisation plan.

"The only major area of disagreement is the implementation, in its current form, of the Release of Ground Agreement of 2006. The government acknowledges the existence and validity of the agreement, but wants to renegotiate certain terms of the agreement," said Zimplats.

Recent reports say over 50 mines in Zimbabwe "face the axe", with Kasukuwere also threatening prosecution.