Rockwell Diamonds is in talks with a company wishing to buy mining assets that are in business rescue after a contractor tried to liquidate the miner.

Rockwell Diamonds is in talks with an unidentified company wishing to buy mining assets that are in business rescue after a contractor tried to liquidate the miner.

Rockwell has three subsidiaries that were the subject of a liquidation process and opted to place them in business rescue to stave off proceedings.

The three subsidiaries are Rockwell Resources, HC van Wyk Diamonds and Saxendrift Mine.

Rockwell said it had been in talks with three parties and one of these had sent an offer to Metis Strategic Advisers, the business rescue practitioners, to buy the assets for more than the liquidation value.

However, the practitioners had already applied to the High Court in Kimberley to place the three subsidiaries back into provisional liquidation and to put the Wouterspan operation, which was the last remaining hope for Rockwell, into care and maintenance.

It was “unclear why the business rescue practitioners chose not to wait to file such a motion based on the outcome of the final discussions regarding a proposed transaction, when written assurance had been provided that the offer would exceed liquidation value,” Rockwell said, it was pushing ahead with a meeting with the potential buyer on Monday.

One of the practitioners would attend the meeting.

Under the business rescue practitioners, the Wouterspan mine broke even during August before paying the practitioners and the grade was ahead of budget. The mine, however, never achieved the planned throughput under the practitioners’ management of the operation.