Valterra Platinum is exploring the use of Tharisa’s processing technology to recover fine chrome from mining operations, opening a potential new avenue for the South African platinum producer to extract value from material that might otherwise go unused.

The development was disclosed in a Johannesburg Stock Exchange announcement by Tharisa on Thursday, alongside a separate platinum group metals concentrate offtake agreement with Valterra. The arrangement gives Tharisa a longer-term customer for half its concentrate production at its South African mine.

Tharisa secures longer-term buyer

The offtake agreement covers 50% of the concentrate produced at Tharisa’s mine in South Africa’s North West province, replacing an earlier arrangement with Sibanye-Stillwater. The commercial terms are comparable to those of the previous deal, although the new agreement runs for longer, Miningmx reported.

The remaining concentrate will continue to be supplied to Northam Platinum under an existing agreement. Together, the arrangements preserve Tharisa’s established customer relationships while bringing Valterra into a larger role in its platinum group metals business.

Fine chrome technology advances

Tharisa said its pilot plant had been completed and testing was underway for its proprietary Vulcan X fine chrome recovery technology. The system is not yet operating at commercial scale, but the company said it was performing successfully as it works toward wider deployment.

Chief Executive Phoevos Pouroulis said the pilot plant marked a step toward commercializing the technology. For Valterra, the process could be applied to tailings operations, where recovering additional chrome may help improve returns from existing mining assets without relying solely on newly mined material.

Valterra pushes recovery strategy

The collaboration also points to progress in Valterra’s broader chrome strategy, which CEO Craig Miller discussed at the company’s half-year results in July. At the time, Miller said plans involving Mogalakwena and potential opportunities at Mototolo were well advanced, but he did not provide further details.

“Our collaboration on fine chrome recovery and beneficiation is an important part of advancing opportunities to unlock value and enhance cash flow margins at Valterra Platinum,” Miller said Thursday. The companies did not disclose the terms of a potential technology-transfer agreement or explain how any commercial returns would be shared.

Technology offers new revenue

Peel Hunt said Tharisa could potentially structure a commercial arrangement around production, citing its previous agreement with Lonmin. Under that model, Tharisa operated a plant financed by Lonmin and received additional upside by sharing output above an agreed production threshold.

The UK investment bank cautioned that the Valterra opportunity appeared to be at an early stage, but said it could allow Tharisa to monetize the technology developed for its Vulcan fine chrome recovery plant.

Zimbabwe deal strengthens ties

The latest discussions build on an existing relationship between the companies. In August, Tharisa and Valterra signed a five-year concentrate offtake agreement for Karo Platinum, Tharisa’s $545 million project in Zimbabwe.

Formerly known as Anglo American Platinum, Valterra became an independent publicly traded company after its demerger from Anglo American on May 31, 2025. The group operates in South Africa and Zimbabwe and maintains primary and secondary listings in Johannesburg and London, with marketing hubs in London, Singapore and Shanghai.

Tharisa, headquartered in Cyprus and listed in London and Johannesburg, is a mining company that produces and processes platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome concentrates across Southern Africa.