HARARE – Bravura Holdings Limited (Bravura) says it is on course to developing its US$1 billion Zimbabwean mine on the Great Dyke in Selous.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has placed mining at the heart of its economic growth projections, and platinum alone is set to contribute US$3 billion-plus under its US$12 billion earnings plan or strategy.

“Despite the delays that were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are doing exploration and are finding (good) resources,” Bravura country director Lionel Mhlanga said on Friday during a tour of Bravura’s mine site.

Bravura last year secured a special grant agreement signed by mines minister Winston Chitando and billionaire Nigerian investor Benedict Peters.

“We are still to quantify the resources so that we can take this project to the next stage. Our group has availed a billion dollars from in-house sources for the development of this project and we are very pleased that we are working non-stop,” Mhlanga said.

The venture, which sits on approximately on 3,000 hectares of land, is located 70 kilometers south-west of Harare in Selous, Mashonaland West.

Mines minister Winston Chitando said he was confident Bravura would contribute to the government’s US$12 billion extractive industry target by 2023.

“They have drilled close to 5,000 metres and are targeting 15,000m as part of the first phase before proceeding to project implementation,” he said, adding he was “extremely impressed” with what he had seen.

“As was outlined by Mhlanga, we signed an agreement mid-last year and the progress which has taken place is really fantastic. What they are doing is resource confirmation, to come up with a statement to enable the project to move to the next phase, which is the mine modelling and firming up the road map for the implementation,” Chitando said.

Chitango, a former Mimosa mines and Hwange executive, said he was “equally impressed by Bravura’s move to invest in a rig and on-site laboratory facilities, which showed the company was invested in the country for the long-haul.”

Preliminary findings are not only indicating platinum group metal, and gold ores of three grammes per tonne, but the mining group is firmly targeting to be Zimbabwe’s fourth major producer after Impala-owned Mimosa and Anglo American-controlled Unki.

“It shows the seriousness with which they are taking this project and again they are very clear in terms of the timelines that they want to finish the first 15,000 meters by end of February and then move on to the next stage,” Chitando said.

“Again, if we look at (national) milestones and where platinum is projected to contribute US$3 billion, these are premised on new production from Karo Resources, Bravura and Great Dyke Investments as well as optimisation and expansion from the current three producers,” he said.