Developments in Zimbabwe likely to boost Platinum

ZIMBABWE February 02 2017 9:29 AM

LONDON (Scrap Register): Developments in Zimbabwe may provide support to platinum prices, said James Steel, chief precious-metals analyst with HSBC.

Steel cites news reports in which Zimplats said that Zimbabwe’s government recently made a new attempt to appropriate more than half of the company’s land, with a letter giving the company 30 days to lodge an objection. 

This is the third time since February 2012 that the government has issued a notice to seize 27,948 hectares of mining ground from Zimplats, the country's biggest platinum producer. Zimplats is mostly owned by South Africa's Impala Platinum. 

“Zimbabwe has the second-richest PGM (platinum-group-metals) reserves after South Africa, and any development likely to interfere with production may be construed as bullish,” Steel concluded.