MOSCOW, Jun 5./ITAR-TASS/. A consortium of Russian Vi Holding, state defense conglomerate Rostec and Vneseconombank (VEB) will explore world’s second largest platinum field Darwendale in Zimbabwe, business daily Kommersant reported on Thursday citing Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov’s letter to President Vladimir Putin.

By the end of the year the consortium plans to finish exploration works and confirm the field’s reserves under international standards. The construction of the first stage of the mining and processing complex is slated for 2015, investments in the construction amount to $500 million and total project investments are around $3 billion Kommersant reported.

The platinum field in the Darwendale valley has proved reserves of 19 tonnes of platinum and 755 tonnes of previous metals including palladium, rhodium, gold, nickel and copper in platinum equivalent. After the mining and processing complex is launched, the production capacity can amount to 600,000 ounces of platinum annually.