Zimplats, the country’s leading platinum group metals producer, is scheduled to meet with the Zimbabwean government to discuss the delayed disbursement of local currency under the RBZ’s 30% export surrender policy, as the foreign currency balances being withheld have now widened by 158% since December 2024, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
The buildup reflects foreign currency earned from exported platinum products that Zimplats has already surrendered to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe but has not yet received in local currency, pending liquidation.
As of 31 December 2025, Zimplats had US$78.1 million in a deferred liquidation account with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, up from US$55.5 million in June 2025 and US$30.3 million a year earlier, representing a 158% increase over 12 months.
These funds reflect foreign currency surrendered under the export retention policy, which the company has yet to receive in local currency.
In a recent interview, Nico Muller, CEO of Impala Platinum Holdings, said Zimplats is scheduled to meet the government to discuss the issue and other policies that have increased Zimbabwe’s perceived investment risk.
“The big issue in Zimbabwe is the uncertainty of policy and the shifts that happen from time to time. And that scares foreign direct investors quite a lot. I do find that at the moment for us, there is elevated risk. And so we are navigating through a process with the government to address that, because our perception of risk has materially shifted upwards over the last year or two…
“And in part, it’s the change in policies. But it’s also got to do with the retention of local currency that is owed to Zimplats in exchange for the foreign currency retention, in terms of the policy of Zim. We are scheduled to meet with the Zimbabwean government. And I have to believe that a successful outcome will be achieved just like in the past,” he added.
The issue is not unique to Zimplats. Valterra Platinum recently revealed that its Unki Mine in Zimbabwe is owed about US$100 million in export proceeds that remain inaccessible under the same export retention framework, even as some partial payments have begun in 2026.
This government policy requiring exporters to convert 30 percent of foreign currency earnings into local currency at official rates has left the PGM industry with substantial arrears as companies await payment of the local currency equivalent of surrendered earnings, highlighting a sector-wide cash flow constraint.
Industry bodies say these delays reflect broader cash-flow pressures within government and the foreign exchange regime and have been echoed by multiple producers who have not received local currency for export proceeds due since early 2025, underlining how the retention rule has become a systemic operational risk for miners operating in Zimbabwe.
