Phoevos Pouroulis

PHOEVOS Pouroulis has been around the block a few times, but even he may have felt his blood pressure rising when SA’s mines minister Gwede Mantashe revived the old chestnut of a tax on unbeneficiated chrome exports to protect local ferrochrome producers. The mainstay of Tharisa’s business is chrome concentrate exports. Mantashe’s initial proposals were vague enough that chrome concentrates might have been affected by the tax, as well as raw ore.

However, some robust representations by the ferrochrome industry about the real problem – high electricity prices – has changed the focus of the debate. Suffice it to say, external meddling would be deeply unwelcome as Tharisa has announced plans to spend $547m over 10 years, taking its flagship chrome and PGM mine near Brits underground in phases. Amid the noise generated by government, the platinum price performed a much-needed improvement last year which has helped put some esprit into Tharisa’s financing ambitions for its Karo PGM project in Zimbabwe.

There’s a lot hanging on these financing discussions: Karo is slated to produce 220,000 ounces of additional PGMs a year from 2027. Tharisa has committed $193m of its funds, derisking and accelerating early development of the project over the past eight years, but another $325m is needed. Pouroulis says talks are well advanced: “We feel the confluence of a lot of effort coming together,” he said recently. Karo has proved tough to finance but the market is looking up and Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke is a proven mining area.