Tharisa Plc will move trading in its London-listed shares to the London Stock Exchange’s flagship SETS electronic order book from October 1, in a move aimed at improving liquidity and price formation as the platinum and chrome producer advances its growth strategy. Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
The dual-listed miner said the migration from SETSqx, a trading service designed for less-liquid securities, to SETS will provide continuous order-driven trading throughout the day, supported by opening and closing auctions and registered market makers.
Tharisa expects the change to improve on-order-book liquidity, potentially narrow bid-offer spreads and broaden access to its shares among UK and international institutional investors.
The move comes days after the company reached a key milestone in securing funding for its Karo Platinum Project on Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, with the net proceeds of a US$300 million five-year senior secured Nordic bond placed in escrow.
The bond, issued through wholly owned subsidiary Arxo Finance plc, was priced at 98% of principal with an 11% semi-annual coupon after being oversubscribed on September 11. The proceeds are earmarked primarily for completing Karo, with any remaining funds available for general corporate purposes.
Tharisa said the funds will be released to the group once the remaining applicable conditions are satisfied. Chief Executive Phoevos Pouroulis said the escrow milestone brought the company closer to fully funding Karo, with attention now turning to the remaining conditions ahead of project drawdown.
The SETS migration itself does not provide funding for Karo. Instead, it changes how Tharisa’s existing London-listed shares are traded, potentially creating a more liquid market for investors as the company moves deeper into the development of its second operating asset.
Karo is designed to produce about 226,000 ounces of PGMs a year at full Phase 1 capacity, more than doubling Tharisa’s group PGM production. First ore to the mill is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027. Tharisa has also secured a five-year offtake agreement with Valterra Platinum for Karo’s PGM concentrate.
The Zimbabwe project forms a central part of Tharisa’s expansion beyond its existing Tharisa Mine in South Africa, where the group produces chrome and PGMs from a single orebody. Karo is being developed as a second major operating asset on the Great Dyke and is intended to expand the group’s exposure to PGMs.
Tharisa’s latest funding activity follows a period of increased investment in Karo and its South African underground development. At the end of June, the group had US$198.8 million in cash and US$188.1 million in debt, leaving it with a net cash position of US$10.7 million, compared with US$54.7 million three months earlier. The company attributed the movement partly to increased capital spending on Karo and the underground project.
The US$300 million bond therefore represents a significant addition to the funding package for Karo, although Tharisa has said the proceeds are still subject to the remaining release conditions rather than being immediately available for project drawdown.
For shareholders, the London trading migration requires no action and does not affect Tharisa’s Main Market listing, LSE ticker THS, ISIN, issued share capital or the rights attached to its shares.
It also has no impact on the company’s listings and trading arrangements on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and A2X Markets.
Tharisa said the migration is intended solely to change the trading service used for its ordinary shares in London, with the new SETS arrangement taking effect on Thursday, October 1.
