What did Zimplats report?

• Mined volumes: 2.09 million tonnes, down 1% from last quarter, up 17% year-on-year
• 6E metal in final product: 76,340 ounces, down 56% from last quarter, down 46% year-on-year
• Operating cash cost per 6E ounce: US$1,299, up 29% from last quarter, up 27% year-on-year
• Total operating costs: US$166.2 million, down 2% from last quarter, up 22% year-on-year
• Concentrator throughput: 1.93 million tonnes milled, down 6% from last quarter, up 15% year-on-year
• No dividend announced for the quarter

What else do investors need to know?

Zimplats recorded one lost-time injury for the March quarter, with corrective actions implemented as part of their zero-harm focus. Lower mining and milling volumes were mainly due to fewer operating days and planned maintenance shutdowns at the mills.

Final 6E metal production dropped sharply due to maintenance work on the smelter, but concentrate stocks have built up and are expected to be processed by the end of FY2026. Meanwhile, operating costs climbed year-on-year on higher open-pit activity, increased export fees, and rising labour and maintenance expenses.

What's next for Zimplats?

Key development projects are progressing as planned, including the Mupani mine expansion towards its 2029 production target, smelter and solar power upgrades, and continued tailings storage improvements. The company aims to process the accumulated concentrate, supporting higher metal output later in the year.

Zimplats maintains its focus on safety and boosting efficiency. Completion of major projects like the solar expansion and smelter upgrade is expected to support more stable production and cost control in coming years.

Zimplats share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Zimplats shares have risen 39%, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 8% over the same period.

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The post Zimplats shares: Production dips and costs rise appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What did Zimplats report?

• Revenue: up 83% to US$641.8 million (H1 FY2025: US$350.2 million)
• Profit after tax: up 3376% to US$143.7 million (H1 FY2025: US$4.1 million)
• Profit before income tax: US$203.4 million (H1 FY2025: US$8.9 million)
• Basic/diluted earnings per share: 134 cents (H1 FY2025: 4 cents)
• No interim dividend was declared for the half year
• Net tangible assets per share: up 9% to US$20.92 (H1 FY2025: US$19.16)

What else do investors need to know?

Production volumes of platinum group metals increased across the board, with 6E ounce output up 13% to 316,765 ounces and sales volumes also rising. The improved result was largely due to higher global metal prices and higher volumes, while cost of sales climbed 31% as labour, maintenance and royalty costs increased with revenue.

The board maintained a cautious approach to capital management, opting not to pay a dividend this half. Zimplats ended the period with US$145.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, a substantial improvement from the US$41.4 million held at the end of the previous corresponding period.

What did Zimplats management say?

Chief Executive Officer Alex Mhembere said:

Safety remains our unwavering priority, and I am proud of the significant strides we have made toward our zero-harm goal. The improvement in platinum group metal prices has strengthened our position, enabling us to focus on operational excellence and sustainable growth. Our investments in innovation, including the solar plant and smelter expansion operations, continue to deliver value and resilience. Together, we are building a stronger, safer, and more sustainable future—one that thrives on excellence and creates lasting value for all stakeholders.

What's next for Zimplats?

Looking ahead, Zimplats is continuing with major capital projects to expand production and improve sustainability. Construction of mine replacements and upgrades is on track, with further investment in smelter expansion and renewable energy. The solar plant roll-out will continue, with the next phase forecast for completion in the first half of FY2027.

The company says it remains focused on operational excellence, keeping safety front of mind and aiming for reliable growth. There were no material events after period end impacting the outlook.

Zimplats share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Zimplats shares have increased 66%, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 11% over the same period.

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The post Zimplats Holdings: Profit surges, no dividend for half year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What did Zimplats report?

• Ore mined rose 5% quarter-on-quarter and 15% year-on-year to 2,124,000 tonnes.
• Ore milled increased by 3% from the previous quarter and 12% on the prior comparable period.
• 6E metal in final product jumped 22% quarter-on-quarter to 174,229 ounces, up 35% year-on-year.
• Operating cash cost per 6E ounce fell 6% from the previous quarter to US$1,009, but was 8% higher year-on-year.
• Total operating cash costs increased by 4% to US$170 million compared to the prior quarter.
• Two lost-time injuries were recorded during the quarter.

What else do investors need to know?

The improvement in mined and milled volumes was supported by better underground equipment reliability and higher open pit output. 6E head grade was steady compared to the last quarter, but fell 3% from a year ago due to changes in ore sources.

Major capital projects are progressing well, including the Mupani mine development, which is on track for full-scale production by FY2029, and the smelter expansion where cumulative spending has reached US$466 million. Zimplats also advanced its solar generation project, aiming for 80MW capacity by mid-2027.

What's next for Zimplats?

Looking ahead, Zimplats plans to maintain its focus on safety improvements and operational efficiency. Continued investment in growth projects, like the Mupani mine and expanded renewable energy, positions the company well for long-term production growth and cost management.

Management has also highlighted strong progress on expanding its tailings storage and base metal refining capabilities, supporting future operational stability. Investors may want to watch for updated guidance and further project milestones in the coming quarters.

Zimplats share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Zimplats shares have risen 91%, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has risen 4% over the same period.

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The post Zimplats quarterly earnings: production up, costs down, projects on track appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Over the past 12 months, silver has delivered gains of more than 150%, comfortably outperforming gold and most base metals. The move has been fuelled by strong demand across key sectors, renewed safe-haven interest, and limited supply growth.

Let's take a closer look at what is fuelling this rally.

What is driving silver higher?

Silver sits in a unique position among commodities. It is both a precious metal and a key material used across a range of industries, which means demand can rise in multiple economic environments.

On one side, silver is essential for solar panels, electric vehicles, electronics, and energy storage technologies. Global investment in renewable energy continues to grow, and silver demand linked to solar manufacturing remains a major structural tailwind.

At the same time, geopolitical uncertainty, inflation concerns, and expectations around interest rate cuts have increased investor demand. That has driven renewed interest in precious metals, with silver benefitting alongside gold.

Supply has also played a role. Physical silver markets remain tight, and mine supply growth has struggled to keep up with growing use across key sectors. This has helped support prices even during periods of broader market volatility.

ASX silver stocks in the spotlight

Silver's sharp rebound has flowed through to some big moves across the ASX, particularly among companies with the closest link to the silver price.

One company that stands out is Silver Mines Ltd (ASX: SVL). Unlike most miners on the ASX, Silver Mines is a pure-play silver company. Its future is closely tied to silver prices, rather than a mix of other commodities.

The company's main asset is the Bowdens Project in New South Wales, which is one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in Australia. Because Silver Mines is so heavily exposed to silver, its share price tends to move sharply when silver prices fluctuate.

Other ASX-listed miners also benefit from higher silver prices, but silver plays a much smaller role in their overall businesses. Companies like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) produce silver alongside metals such as copper, zinc, and lead.

There are also a number of smaller miners with meaningful exposure to silver, including Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) and Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM). While these companies are not focused solely on silver, higher prices can still help support revenues and cash flow.

Foolish bottom line

With silver trading near record highs again, investor interest has picked up across the ASX, particularly in silver-exposed stocks.

Pure-play companies like Silver Mines move more closely with the silver price, which can lead to larger share price swings. Diversified miners tend to be less affected, with silver contributing alongside other metals.

If demand remains strong and supply stays tight, silver is likely to stay in the spotlight through 2026.

The post Silver rebounds putting ASX silver stocks back in focus appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX miner's share price is up roughly 75% in 2025, including a 25% jump over the past month, as platinum prices rebound sharply from last year's lows.

With momentum returning to the platinum market, is Zimplats now worth buying after this strong rally?

Let's break it down.

Platinum prices have turned a corner

The biggest driver behind Zimplats' recent rally has been the turnaround in platinum prices.

After a difficult period in 2024, platinum has rebounded strongly into early 2026. Prices are now trading above US$2,100 per ounce, supported by tighter supply conditions and renewed investor interest in precious metals.

Supply constraints in South Africa remain a major factor. Ongoing power issues, rising costs, and operational disruptions have limited output across the region, helping to tighten the global market.

At the same time, demand has held up better than expected. Platinum is used mainly in car exhaust systems to reduce emissions and in various industrial products. Investor interest in precious metals has also increased as commodity prices rise.

What Zimplats reported in its latest update

In its most recent quarterly activities report, Zimplats highlighted steady operational performance across its Zimbabwe mines.

Mining and processing volumes were similar to the previous quarter, although metal output dipped slightly due to lower ore quality. Overall, production remained close to expectations.

Costs, however, moved higher. Cash costs per ounce rose by about 30% compared with the previous quarter, mainly due to higher labour, power and input costs. The company said it is continuing to focus on cost control to manage these pressures.

Despite higher costs, Zimplats remains in a strong financial position. The company reported a net cash balance, meaning it has more cash than debt on its balance sheet.

Is Zimplats a buy?

Zimplats gives investors direct exposure to a recovering platinum price and operates long life mines with existing infrastructure.

However, after a 75% rise in 2025, much of the short-term optimism may already be priced in. Investors need to be comfortable with ups and downs in platinum prices and the risks of operating mines in Zimbabwe.

Higher costs and changes in metal prices remain key risks to watch over the year ahead.

While the longer-term outlook for platinum is improving, I would prefer to watch Zimplats for now rather than buy at current levels. A pullback in the share price could offer a more attractive entry point.

The post Is this ASX platinum miner back in favour after a sharp rebound? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The index closed before Santa's arrival, falling approximately 0.4%. 

However there were a few ASX 200 stocks that had strong performances, building on big gains over the month of December. 

Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM)

This ASX 200 materials stock engages in the production of platinum group and associated metals. The firm's metals include platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, nickel, gold, copper, cobalt and silver.

It operates four underground mines, an open-pit mine, and various processing facilities, all located in Zimbabwe.

Its stock price rose an impressive 8.24% on Christmas eve. 

Its stock price is now up 40% over the last month, and roughly 83% year to date. 

The company has benefited from an increase in metal prices this year. 

In FY25, the company reported steady growth: 

• Revenue (+8%)
• Gross profit margins improved to 13% (FY2024: 11%) on higher metal prices. 
• Profit after tax increased to US$40.5 million (FY2024: US$8.2 million). 

IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)

On Christmas eve, IGO shares gained more than 2.27%. 

The company owns and operates the Nova nickel-copper-cobalt operation, as well as the Forestania and Cosmos nickel operations – all of which are in Western Australia.

After last weeks' gain, this ASX 200 stock is now up an impressive 21.8% in the last month. 

It's been one of the many lithium shares enjoying a bull run in the back half of the year. 

Global lithium prices have lifted to the highest levels in 18 months, while spodumene (a lithium bearing mineral) is trading at its highest levels in two years.

Year to date, IGO shares have now risen more than 66%. 

MA Financial Group (ASX: MAF)

MA Financial Group is a diversified financial services company, specialising in managing alternative assets, lending, corporate advisory, and equities.

After tumbling in the back half of the year, ASX financials stocks are now slowly rebounding in December. 

The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) is up 4.88% in the month of December. 

MA Financial Group has been among the stocks that has performed the best. 

It is up 13.22% in the month of December. 

This rise has come on the back of the acquisition in late November of Hyperdome Town Centre shopping centre for $678.7 million.

Year to date it is now up approximately 88%. 

The post Finishing strong – 3 ASX 200 stocks soaring in December appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While the price of gold has been on a steady march higher over the past 12 months, the platinum price has traded sideways until about late May, when it started to shoot higher.

In Australian dollar terms, platinum is now changing hands for $2540.13 per ounce, up from $1452.95 a year ago, for a gain of 74.83%.

Politics and deficits driving price higher

A recent update from the World Platinum Investment Council explains why:

Rising prices were not unexpected given almost two and a half years of market deficits were being exacerbated by geographic demand dislocations as the US grappled with tariff concerns and China ramped up imports.

And the shortage of platinum supply is not expected to ease any time soon.

The Council's report says the global platinum market is expected to be in deficit to the tune of 850,000 ounces this calendar year, while the supply outlook remains depressed.

Mining supply is forecast to decrease by 6% year-on-year as producers will not be able to repeat the drawdown of work-in-progress inventory we saw in 2024. Notably, recycling supply is expected to increase by 6% year-on-year in 2025 with some evidence of higher platinum group metals prices supporting increased recycling.

The Council says that while supply deficits laid the groundwork for the increase in platinum prices, it was "arguably geopolitics and US tariffs" which triggered the price surge this year.

Security of supply appears to be a key theme which is emerging and with platinum markets forecast to remain in deficit while above ground stocks rapidly deplete, competition for metal will be high.

Aussie stocks to look at

So, how do you get exposure to platinum on the ASX?

The easiest way is by buying shares in major platinum miner Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM), which has enjoyed a 26.2% share price gain over the past year, to value the company at about $2.1 billion.

Zimplats operates four underground mines, an open-pit mine, and various processing facilities, all located in Zimbabwe, and sold 613,337 ounces of platinum in FY25.

The company's stock hit a new high for the past 12 months this week, changing hands for $19.65.

At the junior end of the spectrum, you could look at Southern Palladium Ltd (ASX: SPD), which has seen a more than sevenfold increase in its share price over the past year, now trading at $1.37.

The company is developing its Bengwenyama Project in South Africa, where it has a 6.3 million ounce reserve of platinum group metals, and is conducting further drilling to support a definitive feasibility study for a mine.

Southern Palladium is currently valued at $146.5 million.

There is also Podium Minerals Ltd (ASX: POD), which has enjoyed a share price rise of more than 100% over the past month, to value the company at $86.9 million.

Podium is developing its Parks Reef project in Western Australia, where it has a resource of 7.6 million ounces of platinum group metals, and where it continues to drill.

Podium in early October announced it would raise $12 million at 6.4 cents per share; however, the company's stock is trading higher than that mark, currently changing hands for 9.9 cents apiece.

The post Platinum is outperforming even gold this year. So how can you get exposure on the ASX? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

That's the opinion of top broker Morgan Stanley, which says: "The next several years are likely to be marked by lower equity returns and higher volatility, which could lead dividends to account for a greater portion of total stock market return".

Australian fundie Michael O'Neill of Investors Mutual takes it a step further. He reckons capital growth will likely be lower over the next decade, and in his view that makes dividends "critical".

As my Fool colleague Seb recently pointed out, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had extremely little growth since COVID hit us three years ago. Dividends have been the only real form of returns.

With all of this in mind, let's consider which ASX 200 shares are offering the best dividend yields today.

In this article, we're going to look at ASX 200 mid-cap shares. These stocks have a market capitalisation of between $2 billion and $10 billion.

Best dividend yields among the ASX 200 mid-caps

According to data provided by TradingView, the ASX 200 mid-cap shares offering the best trailing dividend yields today include ASX coal shares, financial shares, energy shares, and retail shares.

They are:

What are trailing dividend yields?

Trailing dividend yields are calculated by taking the most recent total annual dividend amount paid by a company and dividing it by today's share price.

Hence, trailing dividends reflect the previous year's income. This is especially important to remember when considering mining stocks for investment.

Commodity prices fell in FY23, and as we recently reported, the federal government expects most commodity prices to keep declining in FY24 and FY25.

In addition, some of the stocks above, such as New Hope shares, paid special dividends in FY23.

Do you prefer ASX 200 large caps?

If you tend to be a highly conservative investor, you may prefer to invest in large-cap shares.

So, check out our article on which ASX 200 large-cap shares offer the best dividend yields.

Large-cap shares have a market capitalisation of more than $10 billion.

The post Which ASX 200 mid-cap shares offer the best dividend yields? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The relationship between the dividends per share that a company pays and the price that a company's shares trade at produces the metric we know as the dividend yield.

Most ASX shares offer investors dividends yields of between 3 and 6%. But some go higher than that. In fact, the ASX houses many shares that currently have a trailing yield of above 10%. Here are a dozen such shares:

So are these ASX dividend shares all screaming buys? Can investors really expect to get at least 10 cents on every dollar invested back every year by investing in these companies?

When is a 10% yielding ASX divided share a trap?

Well, not so fast. As a rule, income investors should be very careful when dealing with an ASX dividend share offering a yield of 10% or higher. As we went through earlier, the dividend yield is a function of a company's share price, as well as its raw dividends per share. Thus, if the market is pricing a dividend share with a high yield, it is usually for a reason.

Looking at this list, we can see it is dominated by ASX energy shares. Terracom, Yancoal, Whitehaven, and New Hope are all ASX coal miners, and Woodside is an oil share. These companies' earnings (and thus dividends) are notoriously cyclical and depend almost entirely on the coal and oil prices at the time.

Recently, high energy prices have turbocharged these companies' profitability. But investors know that energy pricing booms don't last forever, and neither do the dividends that are funded by them. So that's probably why these companies are seemingly offering such large dividend yields right now.

It's not just ASX energy shares either

The other ASX dividend shares listed here also have their own problems. Magellan is a fund manager that has dramatically fallen from grace over the past few years. I would wager that it would be hard to find any serious investor who expects this company to pay out the same $1.16 in dividends per share over the next year as it did the last.

As such, you should always take an ASX dividend share offering a yield of 10% or higher as nothing more than an invitation to dig a little deeper.

It is entirely possible to find a 10%-er that will indeed prove to be a solid and reliable income stock to invest in. But more often than not, these types of income shares turn out to be dreaded dividend traps — luring investors in with a seemingly high yield, only to cut it down the road.

So choose your high-yielding dividends wisely. This is a dangerous field to be digging in for income.

The post 12 ASX dividend shares with yields over 10%. Are they too good to be true? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.