[miningmx.com] – DRDGOLD believes responsibility for environmental, creditor, and community liabilities in the Blyvooruitzicht mine rest with Village Main Reef (VMR) following the sale of the asset in 2012 until it is sold by the liquidators.
The mine has since been placed in liquidation by VMR following the slide in the gold price which rendered the operation unprofitable.
“The first thing the liquidators should do is read through the sale agreement,’ says Niel Pretorius, CEO of DRDGold. “As soon as the old order rights were converted a claim was established in favour of Blyvoor against VMR,’ he says.
In the end, however, Pretorius doesn’t think there’s any inherent risk in Blyvoor’s liquidation provided the process is well managed, or sold to an unfit buyer.
For starters, there’s a R40m trust fund held by Blyvoor to pay for environmental liabilities. Liabilities were recently calculated at about R77m, but VMR undertook to fund the balance when it assumed control of the operation.
The risk of underground water decanting to the surface has also been covered with the installation of pumping facilities by DRDGold itself whilst the continued supply of electricity to the surrounding community will most likely to covered by the Rustenbuerg property developer that bought the Blyvoor estate.
Some R70m needs to be recovered in terms of the sale by the liquidator and Goldrich executives Thulani Ngubane and Fazal Bhana believe they will be able to foot the bill and will handle the mine properly having told Business Times in a January 26 interview that they had “paid their school fees’.
