Implats CEO Nico Muller (right) interviewed by Mining Weekly's Martin Creamer.
Photo by: Creamer Media
Zimbabwe platinum group metals (PGMs) mining company Zimplats is in the midst of a feasibility study to evaluate the construction of a 200 MW solar power plant, Impala Platinum (Implats) CEO Nico Muller told Engineering News &Mining Weekly following the company’s interim dividend reinstatement and generation of R5-billion in free cash flow in the six months to December 31.
Muller said the proposed solar project would supply not only the required 80 MW of power at Zimplats but also the 30 MW the company uses at the Mimosa mine, in Zimbabwe.
In addition, it would feed power into Zimbabwe’s national power grid as part of a broader in-country strategy.
Currently, the Zimbabwe mines, he said, were totally reliant on power from the Cahora Bassa hydropower scheme, on the Zambezi river system.
“All of our power there is renewable energy, so that’s probably the cleanest platinum being produced on the planet at the moment,” he pointed out.
Implats renewable-energy plans in South Africa, beyond the company’s hydrogen fuel cell development at its refinery in Srings, would also likely include solar power generation.
On platinum substituting currently high-priced palladium, Muller said the fact of the matter was that there is sufficient availability of PGMs to meet world demand, with PGM-using technologies available to lower emissions.
Major research into the development of alternative catalytic converters and alternative mixes was ongoing and announcements were expected about the potential for the substitution of platinum back into catalytic converters.
“It has to happen in a cautious way so that, whenever we produce a new catalytic converter, it ensures emission compliance so that the entire world has faith that it will do the job as designed. “I support the cautious approach and I look forward to the new emerging technologies that will see substitution and PGM demand being more in balance with supply,” Muller said.