TheCable

A company linked to Benedict Peters, Nigerian billionaire and founder of Aiteo Group, has gotten a concession from the Zimbabwean government for the commercial mining of platinum.

Bavura Holdings, in which the 52-year-old holds a major stake, is to develop the Serui Concession, south of the Hartley complex on the Great Dyke.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, president of Zimbabwe, is expected to oversee the signing event.

newZWire, a local newspaper, reports that the Southern African country had previously announced its intentions to award idle mining fields to new investors.

Aiteo, Bavura’s parent company, is involved in oil and gas and power generation.

It branched out to mining in 2017 when it first received a license in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the local medium, deposits at Hartley are complex to mine even for experienced miners.

“In 1999, Australian firm BHP abandoned mining after hauling only a third of the budgeted ore output, failing to manage the unstable ground, and suffering a loss of reserves and ore dilution at levels well outside feasibility studies,” it said.

In 2014, Aiteo acquired oil-mining leases from Shell for $3 billion. It also runs Nembe Creek Trunk Line, a 100km pipeline with a capacity of 600 thousand barrels per day.