HARARE — Zimplats has delivered a broad-based increase in platinum group metals and base-metal production, underscoring the growing operational contribution of Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke to global supplies of strategic and precious metals.
Zimbabwe’s largest platinum group metals producer increased production across most of its key commodities in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and iridium all recording double-digit year-on-year growth.
The strongest performance was recorded in the company’s combined 6E platinum group metals basket, comprising platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and gold, which increased 14 percent to 213,190 ounces.
Platinum production rose 14 percent to 97,950 ounces, while palladium increased 15 percent to 84,035 ounces. Gold output was up 4 percent at 10,570 ounces and rhodium production advanced 10 percent to 9,058 ounces.
Ruthenium was among the fastest-growing metals, with output rising 24 percent to 7,867 ounces, while iridium production increased 29 percent to 3,710 ounces.
The performance points to a significant improvement in the overall metal recovery profile of Zimplats’ operations compared with the corresponding quarter of 2025.
Base metals add to production gains
The improvement was not confined to PGMs. Nickel production increased 6 percent year-on-year to 2,030 tonnes, while copper output rose 5 percent to 1,539 tonnes.
The performance is strategically important because Zimplats is increasingly operating as a diversified metals producer rather than simply a platinum miner. Its ore bodies contain PGMs alongside nickel, copper, cobalt, gold and silver, allowing the company to capture value across several commodity markets.
The company operates an integrated mining and processing complex along the Great Dyke, with mines and concentrator facilities at Ngezi and additional processing and smelting infrastructure at the Selous Metallurgical Complex.
However, production was not uniformly higher across the portfolio. Silver output declined 2 percent to 20,467 ounces, while cobalt recorded the sharpest contraction, falling 30 percent year-on-year.
The contrasting performance illustrates the geological and metallurgical variability inherent in polymetallic mining, where changes in ore composition, recoveries and processing conditions can produce significantly different outcomes between individual metals.
Operational performance remains central
A mining analyst told The Zimbabwe Financial Mail that the headline 6E growth was more significant than the performance of any single metal because it demonstrated broader improvement across the production chain.
“An increase of 14 percent in 6E production is commercially significant because it indicates that the improvement is not dependent on one commodity alone. The combination of higher platinum and palladium output, alongside strong growth in the other PGMs, points to better utilisation of the underlying mining and processing system,” the analyst said.
The analyst said the base-metal numbers were equally important for understanding the economics of the operation.
“Nickel and copper provide additional revenue streams from the same ore body. Their growth means Zimplats is extracting greater value from its mineral resource rather than viewing the asset purely through a platinum lens,” the analyst said.
Great Dyke remains a strategic asset
Zimplats’ performance also reinforces the strategic significance of the Great Dyke, one of the world’s major PGM-bearing geological formations. The company’s operations span Ngezi and Selous and form an integrated mining, concentrating and smelting chain.
That vertical integration is particularly important in an industry where processing capacity, recoveries and metallurgical efficiency can determine how much value is ultimately extracted from mined ore.
Zimplats has historically expanded its Ngezi operations from open-pit mining into large-scale underground production, with the operation now incorporating multiple underground mines and processing facilities.
For Zimbabwe, higher production also has implications beyond the company’s own financial performance. PGMs remain among the country’s most important mineral exports, while greater production of associated metals creates opportunities to deepen domestic mineral processing and increase the value captured from the country’s mineral resources.
Growth comes amid changing metals markets
The latest production figures come as the global metals industry undergoes structural changes driven by energy transition, tighter environmental standards and increasing demand for minerals used in industrial and clean-technology applications.
PGMs remain important in automotive emissions-control systems and have potential applications in hydrogen technologies, while nickel and copper are strategically important across electrification and industrial infrastructure.
The analyst said this makes Zimplats’ production mix increasingly relevant to Zimbabwe’s long-term mining strategy.
“The real opportunity for Zimbabwe is not simply producing more tonnes of ore. It is increasing recoveries, processing more of the mineral basket locally and developing downstream industries around the metals already being extracted,” the analyst said.
For Zimplats, the latest quarter provides evidence that operational improvements can translate into higher metal output across a diversified production portfolio.
But sustaining that growth will depend on mine productivity, plant availability, ore grades, recovery rates and the company’s ability to maintain reliable processing infrastructure as it seeks to maximise the value of one of Zimbabwe’s most important mineral assets.
With 6E production up 14 percent and increases recorded across most of its principal metals, Zimplats enters the new financial year with a stronger operational base and further evidence of the production potential embedded in Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke.
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