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Zimbabwe

Unki Mine

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Unki Mine

Location: 34 km SE from Gweru, Zimbabwe

Regional Office:

144 Oxford Road Rosebank, Melrose
P.O. Box 62179 Marshalltown 2107
Johannesburg
South Africa
2196

Contacts:

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Summary

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • PGM
  • Gold
  • Platinum
  • Palladium
  • Rhodium
  • Nickel
  • Copper
  • Iridium
  • Ruthenium
Mining Method
  • Bord-and-pillar
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SnapshotUnki is one of the world’s largest PGM deposits outside of South Africa, on the Great Dyke operation.

Unki is a fully mechanised, trackless, underground operation, which also includes Concentrator and Smelter.

The Unki mine extracts the Main Sulphide Zone (MSZ) and is at steady-state production, with long-dated strategic growth potential.

Construction of 10MW PV plant at Unki to be executed in 2025 and 2026. This is first phase of planned 25 – 30MW PV plant.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Valterra Platinum Ltd. 98 % Indirect
Rustenburg Platinum Mines Ltd. (operator) 100 % Direct
Ownership Tree
Prior to the demerger, Anglo American plc, through its subsidiary Anglo American Platinum (via Rustenburg Platinum Mines), held a 65.36% interest in the Unki mine.

As part of its portfolio simplification, Anglo American plc completed the demerger of Anglo American Platinum, enabling it to operate as an independent and resilient business.

On 8 May 2025, the proposed name change of Anglo American Platinum Limited to Valterra Platinum Limited was approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Company.

On May 28, 2025, Valterra Platinum (VALJ.J), opens new tab, the world's biggest miner of the metal by value, made its trading debut on the Johannesburg bourse as a standalone unit on Wednesday, completing a spin-off from parent Anglo American.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Magmatic

Summary:

Unki Mine is located in the Selukwe subchamber of the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe. In transverse section, the subchamber is synclinal in shape, with essentially the same lithological succession being exposed on both sides of the longitudinal axis. The general dip decreases from outcrops to the central area varying from 14° to 0°. Within the Special Mining Lease, the intrusion strikes north north-east/south south-west and extends about 26km.

The Great Dyke in Zimbabwe occurs as a 2.5 billion-year-old mafic to predominantly ultramafic layered intrusion, is about 550km long and between 3km and 11km wide. The Great Dyke is trending in a north north-easterly direction cutting across the Archaean rocks of the Zimbabwe Craton, which are largely granite and greenstone belt rocks. Unki Mine is located in the Selukwe (Shurugwi) subchamber of the Great Dyke. The subchamber is 90km long, and up to about 7km wide. The shape of the Selukwe (Shurugwi) subchamber has to some extent been controlled by the proximity of the Selukwe greenstone belt, in that it has been deflected and constricted in places.

The Great Dyke has been preserved within a narrow graben structure and is synclinal in shape, with essentially the same mafic and ultramafic lithological successions being exposed on both sides of the longitudinal axis. The dyke comprises an upper mafic unit of alternating sequences of pyroxenite and duniteharzburgites successions and a lower ultramafic zone of dunite. The layers are dipping and flattening towards the axis of the intrusion and the dip decreases from outcrops to the central near-axis area varying from 14° to 0°. The PGMs and associated base metal mineralisation are developed within the uppermost pyroxenite horizon, the Main Sulphide Zone (MSZ).

The Main Sulphide Zone (MSZ)
The mineralisation occurs at the same stratigraphic horizon throughout the Great Dyke within the uppermost pyroxenite layer, the P1 unit, and follows the igneous layering. The MSZ occurs some 10m below the mafic-ultramafic contact and is hosted in the P1 unit of the ultramafic sequence. The P1 unit consists of a thin upper unit of websterite and a lower thick unit of plagioclase pyroxenite where the MSZ occurs near the base of the websterite unit. Based on geochemistry, the MSZ has two distinguishable subzones – the base metal subzone (BMSZ), which is dominated by nickel and copper, and the PGMs subzone. The transition from the upper zone to lower zone is marked by a reduction in iron-nickel-copper sulphides disseminated in the pyroxenite. The base of the upper zone is an important stratigraphic horizon, referred to as the BMSZ.

The base metals occur as disseminated inter-cumulus iron-nickel-copper sulphides. Although the mineralised zone is characterised by the absence of identifiable markers, this risk has been successfully mitigated by using handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology, as well as regular underground sampling of the mineralised horizon, enabling optimal extraction.

The MSZ is structurally affected by faults, xenoliths and replacement pegmatites. The most prominent is the Footwall fault, which occurs at an average stratigraphic distance of 1.6m below the BMSZ, with this distance ranging from approximately 1m to 2.5m. This fault is localised over a small section of the eastern section of the mine.

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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AV - Autonomous

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

CommodityUnits2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
PGM koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe202193166162142
Gold koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe11119.28.67.5
Platinum koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe8986757466
Palladium koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe7976646152
Rhodium koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe98.77.47.26.3
Nickel kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2.82.62.22.11.9
Copper M lbs  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe5.14.94.44.64.9
Iridium koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3.83.63.13.12.7
Ruthenium koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe8.88.57.27.26.2
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2.1 Mt1.9 Mt1,719 kt1,652 kt
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,092 kt1,925 kt1,752 kt1,719 kt1,656 kt
Annual milling capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Production Costs

Commodity20242023202220212020201920182017
Cash costs PGM  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 808 / oz  USD 814 / oz  USD 790 / oz  USD
Cash costs Platinum 1,823 / oz  USD 1,825 / oz  USD 1,757 / oz  USD
All-in sustaining costs (sold) 3E (Pt, Pd, Au)  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 866 / oz **  USD
All-in sustaining costs (sold) PGM  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 937 / oz **  USD 772 / oz **  USD 644 / oz **  USD
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Platinum  ....  Subscribe 88 / oz **  USD 616 / oz **  USD 612 / oz **  USD
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency202420232022202120202019201820172016
Total operating costs ($/t milled) ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Mine Financials

Units20242023202220212020201920182017
Sustaining costs M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 313   228   181  
Capital expenditures M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 366   152   142  
Growth Capital M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 13  
Revenue M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 4,403   2,884   2,489  
EBIT M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,076   491   466  
EBITDA M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,520   835   823  
Operating Cash Flow M ZAR  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Personnel

Mine Management

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Workforce

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2024
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