Aquarius Platinum reassures investors over Mimosa mine in Zimbabwe

Aquarius Platinum said its Mimosa mine has not been affected by the recent directive from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe regarding the suspension of banking services for certain stage.mining.companies.

Going ahead with threats divulged on Friday, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ordered the country’s banks on Monday to stop processing export transactions by its largest exporter, Zimbabwe Platinum, because of its failure to comply with exchange control regulations.

According to Financial Times, the central bank said it had advised banks “to stop processing and facilitating international or any cross-border payments . . .  and to stop facilitating any exports . . . on behalf of Zimplats”.

Aquarius, which owns Mimosa in a 50:50 joint venture with Impala Platinum (Implats), said the directive only affected companies that had failed to comply with an earlier directive to localise funds held in offshore foreign currency accounts. Mimosa complied with the earlier directive.

South Africa’s Implats is the world’s second-largest platinum producer by volume.