ZIMBABWE’S High court said Impala Platinum’s local unit was not liable to pay mining royalties of $7.1m on exports matte and concentrates.
According to a report by Bloomberg News on Tuesday, the court ruled in favor of Zimplats after the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority determined the company owed royalties for the period between June 2018 and December 2021. The court said that no royalty rate had been set for such products over that period, said the newswire.
“It is therefore my considered view that matte and concentrate, as mineral-bearing products, cannot attract the same royalties as minerals that have gone through the refinery process,” High Court Judge Rodgers Manyangadze said in his ruling.
Zimbabwe has the world’s third-largest platinum reserves after South Africa and Russia and generates more than half of its revenues from mineral exports, said Bloomberg. Besides Impala, Sibanye Stillwater and Valterra Platinum also have platinum interests in the southern African country.
Implats will post a spectacular increase in interim earnings, fuelled by higher platinum group metal prices and strong second quarter operational performance.
The miner said in a trading statement on Tuesday headline earnings for the six months ended December would be between 392% and 411% higher. Basic earnings which strips out exceptional items, are expected to rise by between 387% and 407%.
Implats said in an operational update last week that group production was 1.79 million ounces, just under one percent better than the comparative period last year. But there were production improvements at its Rustenburg mines as well as Zimplats where group output was 5.5% higher after expanding a smelter.
