HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s top platinum producer Zimplats recorded a 164 percent rise in profit to $50 million in the fourth quarter to June as production and revenue rose, the company said on Wednesday.
Zimplats is 87 percent owned by the world’s second largest platinum producer Impala Platinum, which is recovering from a five-month wage strike that hit its main South African operations last year.
Mined ore rose 26 percent to 1.54 million tonnes, though Zimplats did not say how many ounces were produced. Revenue was up 32 percent to $167 million during the period.
Zimbabwe’s economy is totally dollarised so there are no exchange rate implications for mining firms unlike in South Africa, where producers are heavily exposed not only to global price fluctuations but also swings in the rand currency.
