Swanepoel to return to gold

[miningmx.com] — BERNARD Swanepoel, one of South Africa’s most famous gold entrepreneurs, told newspaper Business Day that he was considering investing in the local gold industry again.

Swanepoel is best known for transforming Harmony Gold from a one mine company into one of the world’s leading gold producers with assets in Australia, Papua New Guinea and elsewhere in South Africa.

“Our first strategic objective is to buy a cash-generative asset,” Swanepoel told Business Day. He was commenting on strategic plans to add diversity to Village Main which is primarily interested in building a mine at Phosiri Dome, a platinum prospect. Village bought 72% of Lesego Platinum which, in turn, controls the Phosiri project.

Asked whether the cash generative asset would be in gold or platinum, Swanepoel told Business Day: “If I were Paul the octopus I’d probably put my tentacles on gold.” Swanepoel was referring to the octopus that correctly predicted the outcome of certain games at the Fifa Soccer World Cup in South Africa in June and July.

The South African gold sector has entered a fresh period of flux in which rising labour and power costs have rubbed out potential gains for the higher rand gold price, itself a function of the higher dollar gold price.