PLATINUM Group Metal (PGM) and chrome producer, Tharisa, paid a two US cents per share interim dividend today, equal to an outlay of $5.2m as previously announced it would at its results presentation on May 16.
It said today the outlook for the remainder of the financial year was solid. “Tharisa continues being a strong cash generative business which is underpinned by solid operational performance,” said Phoevos Pouroulis, CEO of the company. The firm’s 2018 financial year closes on September 30.
Tharisa was on track to meet production guidance of 150,000 ounces of PGMs and 1.4 million tonnes of chrome concentrates.
“We remain committed to paying dividends which currently sit at a minimum of 15% of NPAT [net profit after tax], even as we embark on company-changing expansion into Zimbabwe,” he said. On June 13, the company announced it would invest $4.5m (R60m) in Karo Holdings which has PGM-bearing properties on Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke complex.
The investment, which is for a 28.6% stake in Karo Holdings, takes Tharisa’s committed spend in Zimbabwe to $7.5m (R100m) after announcing earlier this year it would spend $3m exploring a chrome property, also on the Great Dyke, owned by Salene Chrome Zimbabwe, a company Tharisa has bought.
“The acquisition presents an attractive opportunity to expand Tharisa’s PGM mining interests into Zimbabwe,” said Tharisa COO, Michelle Taylor, of the investment in Karo. “It provides Tharisa with a low cost, low risk entry into a new geography and to access development projects,” she said.
Karo Holdings has Loucas Pouroulis, father to Phoevos, as a shareholder.
“These projects present Tharisa with exciting opportunities in highly prospective chrome and PGM areas on the Great Dyke,” said Pouroulis today.
