The Zimbabwean mining interest Mimosa Platinum Mine has begun a $39 million programme of expansion that is predicted to provide a four-fold boost in production.

This represents an increase in production from 15,500 ounces to 68,000 each year.

The expansion will be concentrated on excavation output, and also in providing the infrastructure to support it through an increased workforce and related facilities.

In response to enquiries from the Harare Daily News, Mimosa said it was pushing ahead with developments, but warned more work was still necessary.

'We have commissioned a new concentrator on the mining site, but the work on the underground expansion has not yet been completed,' the company explained.

Mimosa has also undertaken to provide ZIM $242 million to the local government in the nearby town of Zvishavane, which will fund the digging of a water reservoir, the upgrading of the sewerage system and other essential infrastructure.