THE former Tegeta Resources & Exploration-owned Optimum and Koornfontein mines have been thrown a lifeline, according to a report by TimesLive which said entrepreneur Quinton van der Burgh had offered to operate the mines without conditions.
The publication quoted business rescue practitioner for the Tegeta Resources firms, Louis Klopper, as saying that unlike a number of other bidders for the operations, Van Der Burgh’s Burgh Group “came without conditions”. He will operate the mines on a temporary basis, TimesLive said.
Burgh Group aimed to make Optimum and Koornfontein stable in two months and increase coal production in six months, the publication said. Eskom said last week that it was seeking alternative coal supplies worth 8.5 million tonnes after Optimum, Koornfontein and a third Tegeta Resources mine, Brakfontein, were placed under business rescue.
Van der Burgh told Times Select his company had been able to step in at just the right time‚ after seeing the downfall of the two mines.
