In an effort to keep their massive Zimbabwean investment on the pot boiling, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd (IMP) will submit a new proposal to the Zimbabwean Government.

‘A proposal was made and it’s all part of negotiations with the government,’ Muchadeyi Masunda, deputy chairman of Zimplats Holdings Ltd. (ZIM), said by phone today from the capital, Harare. ‘I am not aware of any violent objections to it.’

With the world’s second-largest reserves of platinum and chrome after South Africa, Zimbabwe has ruled that all foreign companies must submit proposals to sell 51 percent of their local assets to black Zimbabweans by Sept. 25.

According to Bloomberg, the first proposal by Zimplats, a unit of the world’s second-largest platinum producer, failed to meet the ownership laws and may result in the company having its mining license revoked by the Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.

Impala, based in Johannesburg, is the biggest investor in Zimbabwe’s mining industry and could invest as much as $10 billion increasing production, Chief Executive Officer David Brown said on Aug. 25. Selling 51 percent of Zimplats ‘just does not work,’ he said on Aug. 26.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 9:04 am.