Impala Platinum shareholders are set to benefit from a windfall, after the firm completed a $688 million sale of its 27.1 per cent share in Lonplats.

Implat's financial director David Brown confirmed to Mineweb that shareholders could look forward to some form of remuneration.

"There will be an element of cash available for shareholders, we're just evaluating the method of returning that cash," he explained.

"It could be a special dividend, a share buy-back or a combination of both."

Impala and Lonmin announced this week that the final funding for the sale of the stake in Lonplats to black empowerment groups and Lonmin had been secured.

Meanwhile, Brown also revealed that Implats was considering how to progress with activities at its Ngezi platinum mine in Zimbabwe.

Expansion at the site will cost a minimum of $110 million, but Brown says Implats is awaiting further details of a proposed new black economic empowerment charter for Zimbabwe's mining industry.

After announcing plans for the charter the Zimbabwean government has gone quiet on the issue in recent weeks, and Mr Brown says the firm is seeking "some clarity" ahead of making any concrete plans.