P. African completes R50m acquisition
JOHANNESBURG - Mid-tier miner Pan African Resources has completed the R50 million acquisition of the liquidated assets of Mintails Mining SA, a transaction that is expected to be transformative for the firm and could boost its gold output by a quarter.
Pan African, valued at R7.67 billion on the JSE, has now acquired the total shares and claims of Mogale Gold and Mintails SA Soweto Cluster, both fully owned by Mintails SA, which was placed into provisional liquidation in 2018. Pan African’s gold production hit a record 205 688 ounces in its year to end-June, and it is eyeing another 50 000 from a project related to its new assets.
Feasibility
After recently completing a definitive feasibility study on the Mogale Gold tailings storage facilities, near Krugersdorp, Pan African estimates that construction will begin in April 2023, and commissioning of the plant from between July 2024 and December of that year. “Pan African is pleased to have finally closed the sale transaction,” CEO Cobus Loots said in a statement.
“Our studies have demonstrated robust operational and financial economics, with the project having the potential to further increase our high-margin, long-life production from tailings retreatment operations.
“The area where Mintails is situated presents a number of environmental and social challenges.
We will require the assistance of the government and all the other legitimate stakeholders to successfully address those challenges, remediate the site and develop a world-class project.”While the unfunded environmental liability of the mine has been estimated to be more than R460 million,
Pan African told News24 in September this could be closer to R100 million. The Mintails North Sands mine dump near Krugersdorp is where, in July, eight women were gangraped, allegedly by a group of illegal miners.
Pan African’s shares were up 1.16 per cent to R3.49 in early trade on Thursday, down about three per cent in the year to date, but still up almost 12 per cent on a one-year basis.