Zimbabwean company Nkulelo Rusununguko Mining is to secure a stake in Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Zimplats) after clinching a $32.5 million deal.

Reports in the state-owned Herald newspaper suggest that the agreement will see Nkulelo Rusununguko Mining assume a 15 per cent holding in Zimplats, the country's largest platinum miner.

Shares will cost A$3.47 (R16.38) each, markedly less than the previous offer from South African mining giant Impala Platinum last September. Then Implats offered a share price 15 per cent higher.

Zimplats is hoping the deal will raise funds for exploration and expansion, with the company hoping to raise A$46 million of the A$155.7 million it has designated for strategic growth.

Meanwhile, Zimplats shareholders are still considering plans for a rights issue in a bid to raise funds for the purchase of Implats stake in the Makwiro Mine.

The platinum outfit is seeking to raise around $39 million in order to land Implats' 30 per cent stake in the mine, with the share issue potentially introducing another 14 million shares for the firm on the Australian Stock Exchange.

If completed the deal would bring together ownership of the different facets of Zimplats' operations - ore resources and processing facilities - under one roof.