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THARISA ended its 2026 financial year with higher fourth-quarter platinum group metal and chrome production, while keeping its Karo project in Zimbabwe on track for first ore late next year.
The JSE- and London-listed miner produced 41,000 ounces of PGMs in the three months to end-September, up 3.5% from the previous quarter, while chrome concentrate production rose 5.8% to 416,700 tons.
For the full year, PGM production rose 11% to 153,700oz, while chrome output was 1.56 million tons. Both were within Tharisa’s estimates.
UK investment bank Peel Hunt said overall production was broadly in line with its forecasts, with PGM output about 1% below its estimate and chrome about 1% ahead.
PGM recoveries were better than it had anticipated, with the metal mix also slightly more weighted towards higher-value rhodium and iridium.
Pricing was also better than Peel Hunt had forecast. Tharisa’s fourth-quarter PGM basket price was about $160/oz above its estimate, prompting a roughly 1% increase in its revenue forecast.
The stronger production came against a much firmer PGM pricing backdrop. Tharisa’s average PGM basket price for the year increased 61% to $2,607/oz from $1,615/oz, while the average metallurgical-grade chrome price rose 9% to $290/t.
Prices softened in the fourth quarter, however, with the PGM basket price falling 5.4% quarter on quarter to $2,535/oz and chrome down 6.9% to $285/t.
CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said the year marked the point at which Tharisa’s growth moved “from planning into construction”.
At its South African Tharisa mine, reef mined increased 8.5% quarter on quarter to 1.34 million tons, while reef milled rose 7.3% to 1.43 million tons.
The company’s move underground also progressed, with 450 metres of development completed during the quarter and 52,000 tons mined.
Peel Hunt said both the underground project and Karo Platinum in Zimbabwe appeared to be progressing to schedule and budget.
It highlighted that first ore from the underground development should reach the Tharisa plant in the current quarter.
At Karo, construction has moved from bulk earthworks into fabrication and structural steel work. First ore to the mill remains targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027.
Tharisa has invested $240m in Karo against estimated project capex of $516m. The remaining construction programme is backed by a $300m Nordic bond, while a $75m Zimbabwean working-capital facility is being finalised.
Commissioning is planned between July and October 2027, with steady-state production of 220,000 to 230,000 oz a year expected about six months after first ore reaches the mill.
Tharisa ended September with net debt of $51m, compared with net cash of $10.7m at the end of June.
Peel Hunt said the combination of Karo and the Tharisa underground expansion could lift group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) by about 80% over the next two years. It maintained its buy recommendation and 185 pence target price.
For the 2027 financial year, Tharisa is targeting 150,000 to 170,000 oz of PGMs and 1.5 million to 1.65 million tons of chrome concentrate from its South African operation.