Loss doubles after Central Rand halts mining

CENTRAL Rand Gold plunged into a deepening interim loss after suspending mining and turning to toll-treating thirdparty material as it tries to raise capital to keep the company a going concern.

Central Rand reported an unaudited loss for the six months to end-June of $2.367m, double the $1.184m loss a year ago as revenue fell to $1.8m, from $4.4m.

The company, which has tenements to the south of Johannesburg, where there was historical gold mining, said it had current assets of $1.05m against current liabilities of $15.2m, made up primarily of payments due to suppliers of $7m and a $7.4m loan.

The miner, which is listed in London and Johannesburg, is in talks with a shareholder to inject $4m into the company and it is exploring other options to raise funding.

“There remains a material uncertainty in respect of the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” it said.

Management, however, said that it hoped to secure binding agreements on funding in the short term and that its activities would generate cash for the company, which raised $1.9m during the interim period in a rights issue.

In the remainder of the year, the company wanted to finalise the $4m investment, to process surface material through a third-party plant and to continue toll-treating material through its own plant.

Project and task teams would make “recommendations to the board for possible joint ventures, mergers and/or mining opportunities”.

Gold production for the six months fell to 1,394oz, from 3,679oz last year.

Central Rand did not give any gold forecast for the balance of the year or the cost of its production in the past six months.