Hartley Platinum Mine

The Hartley Platinum Mine is about 3km north of Selous, a village 80km southwest of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, on the main Harare-Bulawayo road. The Hartley Platinum Special Mining Lease covers an area of 63.73 square kilometres.

History

In 1986, Delta applied for a 638 square kilometre EPO covering part of the Hartley Geologic Complex of the Great Dyke. EPO 623 was awarded to Delta in September 1987 and work on the area began. In 1988, Delta commissioned an independent feasibility study, the results of which indicated that mining at Hartley Platinum would be technically and commercially viable.

In October 1990, Delta entered into a joint venture with BHP in which BHP had the right to earn 67% of the Hartley Platinum Joint Venture by the completion of its own feasibility study and the commitment to fund and develop a mine. In 1991, BHP started a trial mine and associated test work. Upon completion in October 1993, Delta and BHP concluded that the project was technically feasible and economically viable.

In August 1994, BHP, Delta, and the Government signed the Hartley Platinum Project Mining Agreement, which detailed the legislative and fiscal framework within which the mine would operate. The Government issued a Special Mining Lease, which provided for fiscal and regulatory provisions to govern the project. In the same year, BHP and Delta issued their unconditional decisions to develop and fund the Hartley Platinum Mine and BHP thereby earned a 67% interest in the joint venture.

Construction of the mine began in September 1994. The first ore was mined in 1995. The mill and concentrator commenced operations in October 1996 and were being operated on a "campaign" basis during the production build-up from the underground mine. The smelter commenced operating in March 1997 but experienced a failure of the refractory lining of the furnace in July 1997 - subsequent modifications to the furnace were undertaken in August/September 1998. In June 1997, the base metal refinery received its first matte. In October 1997, Hartley Platinum shipped its first PGM concentrate, while the first copper and nickel sales took place in March and April 1998 respectively.

The planned mine production and viability was not achieved due to the rate of required development not being achieved and the training of stope crews taking longer than expected.

As a consequence of the above, operations were suspended on the 2nd June 1999 and the mine placed on care and maintenance.

Available infrastructure

The Hartley Platinum Mine is situated 80km south west of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, on the main Harare-Bulawayo road midway between the nearby regional centres: Norton, 40km to the north-east and Chegutu, 40km to the south-west. These towns provided almost all the workforce for the Hartley Platinum Mine.

The national rail network, which links Zimbabwe with seaports in South Africa and Mozambique, passes 5km to the west of the Hartley Platinum Mine. The closest siding, Makwiro, is 8km north of the plant site. Electric power is drawn from the national grid and water is drawn from Lake Manyame, 30km to the north.

Mineral resources: Global resource for 1.2m vertical intersection of the MSZ