BARBERTON – Some creditors of Vantage Goldfields (VGL) are having none of the public claims that the company has secured a total of R300 million to reopen Lily and Barbrook mines. Both have been placed in business rescue since a Lily shaft collapsed in February 2016.
Lowvelder reported on April 3 that SSC Flaming Silver, which has entered into an agreement with Vantage Goldfields SA to acquire its 74 per cent shareholding in Vantage Goldfields, co-owners of Lily and Barbrook mines, received a loan of R190 million from the Industrial Development Corporation.
READ MORE: Lily and Barbrook mines set to receive R190m cash injection
Last week the company’s business-rescue practitioner, Rob Devereaux, was widely quoted in the media confirming that an additional R110 million had been secured from other, new investors.
The R300 million should reportedly allow the reopening of Lily Mine by July after a new shaft has been developed. The search for the remains of the trapped miners is to resume a year later – for safety reasons.
The search for the missing miners lasted weeks.
Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyarenda were in a lamp room which collapsed into the mine on February 5, 2016.
The excavation for their bodies was called off after a long search due to safety reasons and their bodies remain trapped underground.
Mike McChesney, CEO of VGL, told Lowvelder at the time that, once the money is received and the creditors of the companies in business rescue have been consulted, the proposed transaction may be finalised.
Yet Dwaine Koch of the Barbrook Creditor’s Committee, rejected the statement that R300 million had been secured. He said in a statement that they had not received any proof that the funds had been secured and therefore rejected the statement as misleading.
“We are constantly advised that the agreements are private and confidential and cannot be made available to third parties. Without proof that the funds have been raised, the creditors cannot consider to stay the current liquidation applications,” he said.
This week McChesney would not comment on Devereaux’s comments, nor explain what conditions the purchaser needed to adhere to in order to finalise the deal, nor comment on the committee’s statement.
“We are finalising the transaction and a joint announcement will be made shortly,” he said.
READ OLDER STORIES: Vantage looking for new investors to restart Lily and Barbrook mine operations
