• Bimha produced 3.1 million tonnes of ore in FY2024 against Mimosa’s 2.894 million tonnes milled, reversing a long standing mine hierarchy
• Zimplats’ US$1.8 billion investment programme has expanded Bimha, processing capacity, renewable power and replacement mining infrastructure
• Mimosa is protecting production through capital discipline, with Unki preserving margins through mechanisation and controlled capital allocation

Zimbabwe's top PGMs mines ( production  in million tonnes)

Harare- Zimplats’ Bimha Mine has overtaken Mimosa in annual ore throughput, ending a long standing hierarchy in Zimbabwe’s platinum group metals industry and placing a single Zimplats mining operation ahead of the operation that defined large scale PGM production on the Great Dyke for much of the modern mining era.

In FY2024, Bimha produced 3.1 million tonnes of run of mine ore against Mimosa’s 2.894 million tonnes milled, following Bimha’s expansion from a design capacity of 2.2 million tonnes to more than 3 million tonnes annually. Mimosa increased throughput further to 2.913 million tonnes in FY2025, with Bimha subsequently reaching full production of approximately 3.2 million tonnes a year.

The crossover had already emerged in FY2023 when Bimha produced about 2.9 million tonnes of ore against Mimosa’s 2.735 million tonnes milled. Mimosa had spent much of the previous decade operating around a stable production platform, giving it a consistency that kept the mine close to the top of Zimbabwe’s single mine PGM hierarchy before the expansion of Bimha altered the relative scale.

The change comes from three different corporate strategies developing across Zimbabwe’s main PGM operations. Zimplats has committed heavily to physical expansion and downstream capacity, Mimosa has concentrated on maintaining an established production platform under stricter capital discipline, and Unki has focused on mechanised production, cost control and cash generation from an already developed mining and processing system.

Zimplats’ wider production platform shows the scale behind Bimha’s rise. Group ore mined increased from about 5.45 million tonnes in 2014 to 7.9 million tonnes in FY2024 before declining to 7.7 million tonnes in FY2025 as lower trackless mobile machinery availability constrained underground production.

Bimha has been central to that expansion. The mine’s upgrade increased design capacity from 2.2 million tonnes to more than 3 million tonnes annually, with Mupani providing the next leg of the replacement programme as older Zimplats operations such as Ngwarati, Rukodzi and eventually Mupfuti reach depletion.

Mupani is scheduled to reach 2.2 million tonnes of annual production in FY2026 before moving towards design capacity of 3.6 million tonnes in FY2029. The two mines therefore sit at the centre of Zimplats’ strategy to protect and expand ore supply as the composition of its older mining portfolio changes.

Processing capacity has moved with the mine expansion. Zimplats commissioned its third concentrator module and subsequently expanded smelting capacity through a new 38MW furnace, taking annual concentrate treatment capacity to approximately 380,000 tonnes and creating a larger domestic processing base for its own production and toll treatment.

Unki, meanwhile, cemented its position as the steady third pillar after its 2021 debottlenecking project lifted sustainable throughput from 1.8 to 2.52 million tonnes per annum.

 Unki's Total PGM production 

A five-year financial lens (FY2021–FY2025 YTD) reveals who truly capitalised on the greatest PGM super cycle in history. Zimplats grew 6E ounces from 611,000 to a record 646,000, generating a cumulative US$5.6 billion in revenue despite deploying over US$1 billion into growth capex.

Mimosa delivered the most impressive cash conversion: 240,000–255,000 ounces every single year produced US$4.9 billion cumulative revenue and a remarkable US$420 million of free cash flow in FY2024 alone at an all-in sustaining cost below US$850/oz.              

Unki, the smallest by volume, extracted the highest margins, 20–27 % EBITDA, due to zero growth capex post-2021 and the industry’s most mechanised underground operation in Zimbabwe.

Each mine’s strength is crystallised. Zimplats has emerged as the volume gorilla, aggressively positioning itself for the structural supply deficits the World Platinum Investment Council forecasts at an average 689,000 ounces annually through 2029.

Zimplats' 6E production in kOz

A five year financial and operating lens shows the different capital allocation models behind Zimbabwe’s three major PGM operations.

Zimplats reached a record 645,911 ounces of 6E production in FY2024 before output declined 6% to 606,343 ounces in FY2025 as lower ore supply affected milling. Revenue still increased 8% to US$827 million in FY2025 as the gross revenue achieved per 6E ounce recovered to US$1,348, leaving the company with stronger metal pricing at the same time production volumes came under operational pressure.

The production numbers sit inside a much larger capital programme. Zimplats is implementing a US$1.8 billion strategic investment plan covering replacement mines, smelting, power, processing infrastructure and other projects, giving the company the deepest expansion pipeline of Zimbabwe’s established PGM producers.

The Bimha upgrade and Mupani development form the mining backbone of that programme. The expanded smelter increases processing capacity, the solar programme is being developed towards 185MW over successive phases, and the Selous processing complex gives Zimplats a route towards progressively deeper beneficiation.

The strategy creates operating leverage to a stronger PGM market because additional mine capacity can be matched with expanded processing infrastructure. It also creates a substantial capital burden, making equipment availability, power security, metal prices and execution increasingly important to the return generated from each additional tonne.

Mimosa’s 6e in concentrate production in kOz

Mimosa has followed a more conservative capital path around an established operation that remains one of Zimbabwe’s most consistent PGM producers. The mine milled 2.913 million tonnes in FY2025 and produced 254,000 ounces of 6E concentrate, sustaining production around the 240,000 to 260,000 ounce range even as the PGM price downturn changed the economics of expansion.

That stability has increasingly become the centre of Mimosa’s strategy. Unit costs reached US$1,069 per 6E ounce in FY2025 and capital expenditure was contained at about US$46 million as shareholders prioritised efficiency, existing production and balance sheet protection.

The North Hill project captures the trade off facing Mimosa. The project provides access to an adjacent orebody capable of materially extending the mine’s operating life, although the shareholders have not approved development under the prevailing investment economics, leaving North Hill as a strategic option outside the current reserve plan.

The decision places Mimosa’s next growth phase behind commodity prices and project returns. Existing operations continue producing at close to nameplate capacity, with the company retaining the ability to revisit North Hill when projected metal revenues justify the additional capital.

Zimplats therefore carries more immediate expansion exposure, with Mimosa carrying more deferred optionality. Their positions arise from different points in the asset cycle, since Zimplats is replacing depleted mines and expanding processing infrastructure at the same time Mimosa is extracting value from a mature, relatively stable operating platform.

Unki’s economics therefore depend less on a large near term expansion programme and more on extracting higher returns from existing infrastructure. Its mechanised, trackless bord and pillar operation and on site smelting capacity give the mine a different capital profile from Zimplats, whose current investment cycle extends across replacement mines, expanded smelting and new power infrastructure.

Unki’s 6e prdoduction in concentrate in kOz

The three strategies have developed against a global platinum market that has moved back into sustained deficit. The World Platinum Investment Council in September 2025 projected an 850,000 ounce deficit for the year, the third consecutive annual shortfall, with total supply expected to fall 3% to just above 7 million ounces.

Longer term projections also keep platinum undersupplied. WPIC expected annual deficits to average about 620,000 ounces between 2025 and 2029, with constrained mine supply and strong automotive, jewellery and investment demand limiting the speed at which the market can rebuild above ground stocks.

Platinum prices had risen more than 50% during 2025 by the end of September, improving the revenue environment after several years in which weak PGM basket prices forced producers across Southern Africa to cut expenditure, postpone projects and intensify cost control.

That price recovery changes the economics of the three Zimbabwean strategies without making them identical. Zimplats has already committed the capital required to increase mine and processing capacity, giving it the greatest physical exposure to additional tonnes and stronger metal prices. Mimosa retains an established production platform and an undeveloped North Hill option whose economics improve as the PGM basket strengthens, while Unki enters stronger pricing from a comparatively disciplined capital base.

The hierarchy has therefore changed at mine level at the same time the strategic differences between the operators have widened. Bimha’s expansion has given Zimplats the largest individual mine production footprint, Mimosa remains a large and stable producer whose next major investment is gated by returns, and Unki continues to extract value from mechanisation and controlled capital deployment.

Zimplats’ scale extends beyond Bimha. Its broader operation milled 7.5 million tonnes and produced more than 606,000 6E ounces in FY2025, supported by a mining system that is progressively shifting production towards Bimha and Mupani as older operations reach depletion.

That replacement strategy is important because Zimplats is not increasing production from an unchanged mine base. The company is spending heavily to replace depleting operations, preserve long term ore supply and create enough processing capacity to accommodate the resulting production profile.

Bimha’s rise therefore carries more meaning than a change in mine ranking. It shows the physical result of a capital programme that has moved Zimplats from several smaller mining portals towards larger replacement mines capable of supporting a more concentrated and scalable production system.

Mimosa’s response will be shaped by the economics of North Hill and the remaining life of its current reserve base. Its ability to preserve production around 250,000 ounces with substantially lower annual capital than Zimplats keeps it commercially relevant even after losing the throughput lead.

Unki adds a third competitive benchmark because its value is created through operating efficiency rather than scale. The mine remains smaller than the Zimplats system and Mimosa in physical throughput, though its mechanised model has continued to deliver margins that make it strategically important to Valterra Platinum’s portfolio.

Zimbabwe therefore has three major PGM operations pursuing three distinct capital strategies inside the same Great Dyke geology. Zimplats is using capital to create scale and processing depth, Mimosa is protecting a mature production base while retaining expansion optionality, and Unki is extracting returns from mechanised infrastructure with a tighter capital profile.

Bimha’s crossover changes the physical hierarchy within that system. The next stage will be determined by whether Zimplats converts its US$1.8 billion investment programme into sustained additional production, whether stronger PGM prices reopen Mimosa’s North Hill investment case, and whether Unki can preserve its margin advantage as grades and operating conditions change.

The crown has changed hands because the investment cycles of the three mines have moved in different directions. Bimha is now the clearest physical expression of Zimplats’ decision to build for scale, placing the mine at the top of Zimbabwe’s PGM throughput hierarchy as the global platinum market enters another period of constrained supply.

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