The internet has increasingly become a "defining aspect" for business survival, said Winston Chitando, executive chairman of Mimosa Mining, the Zimbabwean platinum operation jointly owned by SA mining groups, Aquarius Platinum and Impala Platinum.

The company's new website, www.mimosa.co.zw, will go live this afternoon and Chitando said the company had moved to the digital space to improve stakeholder relations and enhance access to information about the company.

"We continue to engage our stakeholders. The website is a reflection of the value which we assign to the availability of information," said Chitando, adding that websites are an important referral tool for investors seeking information on companies.

"Most of the major international companies have interactive websites that allow visitors to access information, but some Zimbabwean companies have had to play catch up on this."

The website is an effective tool to communicate on our operations in real time, resulting in improved stakeholder relations he said.

Elizabeth Nerwande, spokesperson for the company said Mimosa was "lagging behind" and said Mimosa would explore the possibility of integrating social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter on to the website.

"It is one of the issues we discussed and we will look into it before year end," she said.