ZIMBABWE: Anglo American opens platinum smelter

Mining giant Anglo American has opened a $62m (£48m) platinum smelter in Zimbabwe, the country’s first such refinery.

Its investment is seen as a boost for President Emmerson Mnangagwa who has been trying to improve relations with foreign companies since he ousted long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe is 2017.

“We are determined to increase our visibility and to be among the leading producers of platinum in the world,” Mr Mnangagwa said, as he opened the smelter in Shurugwi, more than 300km (186 miles) south-west of the capital, Harare.

Mine chairman James Maposa said Anglo American had “heeded the government’s beneficiation call, a key pillar of Zimbabwe’s goal to create value, employment and accelerate industrial development”.

Zimbabwe has the world’s biggest platinum reserves after South Africa.