Phoevos Pouroulis
CEO: Tharisa Minerals
‘We have chosen to be developers of mines – a process that takes time, patience, capital and conviction’
CHROME has sustained Tharisa through the recent trough in platinum group metal (PGM) prices but Phoevos Pouroulis’s ambitions stretch well beyond chrome supplemented by PGMs. In 2024, Tharisa achieved record chrome output of 1.7Mt and it makes a premium product that commands a better than average price. However, with 62% of revenue coming from chrome, Pouroulis is looking for more diversification and he is optimistic that PGM prices will firm over the next 18-24 months. His goal is to double Tharisa’s PGM output.
Long-term expansion plans are largely centred around development of a 400,000oz PGM project in Zimbabwe, Karo Platinum, as well as the potential to mine deeper at the Tharisa PGM mine near Rustenburg. The initial capital cost estimate for Karo was $391m but it had risen to $440m by mid-2024, partly because construction has slowed as Pouroulis and his team seek funding – no easy task at current prices.
Latest plans are to exploit a buoyant gold price by entering into a gold streaming deal for Karo’s future gold production, combined with export credit finance and an injection from a foreign investor. But the uncertainty on funding is spooking investors. Tharisa ought to be worth much more, most analysts agree. Another area of expansion is an innovation into energy storage: Tharisa will be able to play in the renewable power sector and increase chrome offtake if it and its partners are successful in commercialising an iron-chromium redox flow battery that was launched to the market in early 2024.
LIFE OF PHOEVOS
Pouroulis, the son of well-known mining entrepreneur Loucas Pouroulis, has played a prominent role in the family business. Before heading Tharisa, Phoevos was on the board of coal group Keaton Energy, which was sold to Salungano in 2017. He is also a patron of music – he is the chair of Spitfire Music SA and of the Music for the Children Foundation. Pouroulis serves on the board of the World Platinum Investment Council. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University.
