20110913
Reuters
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe and Zimplats, the local unit of the world's second-largest platinum producer Impala Platinum, said on Tuesday they had agreed to produce a revised plan for a law requiring mining firms to turn over a 51 percent stake to local blacks.

Zimbabwe rejected Zimplat's initial plan for transferring majority local ownership to local blacks. As a result, the empowerment minister asked the mining ministry to cancel the unit's operating licence, Zimplats said last week.

"The parties met on September 12 and agreed on a process that will result in the production of a revised indigenisation implementation plan for Zimplats in line with, and reflective of the country's indigenisation legislation," the company and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said in a joint statement.

The revised plan will be submitted to government by November 15 and implemented immediately thereafter, the statement said.

"In the meantime, Zimplats and the ministry will immediately proceed to implement a community share ownership trust," the statement said.

Analysts see the Zimbabwe law as a way to squeeze more funds out of companies tying to build operations in the country with the world's second biggest platinum reserves after South Africa.

There likely is not enough money in the impoverished state to buy controlling stakes in foreign mining firms. Zimbabwe neither has the money or expertise to run mines, where production will almost certainly dwindle under forced local ownership, they said.