[miningmx.com] – MIRANDA Minerals, the troubled coal development company led by former Anglo American executive, John Wallington, took the unusual step today of correcting its statement of going concern.
In an announcement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the company said that its directors would in the short term “… procure or provide the necessary funds through loan advances or deferral of fees…” in order to keep the company solvent until it had raised capital, possibly through a rights issue.
It also provided details of the precariousness of its financial position saying that as of February, its monthly cash burn was between R1.2m to R1.5m inclusive of fees paid to directors and that cash on hand amounted to only R231,266.
This was after raising R6.3m through issue of shares subsequent to its year-end through which it settled the majority of its liabilities. Liabilities, excluding directors and shareholders loans, was R2.5m, it said. Net liabilities was about R7m.
On February 27, Miranda Minerals said executive director, Rudolph de Bruin and his alternate director, John Bristow, had resigned from the company, a development it was speculated was related to a disagreement with Wallington over the purchase of the Nkomati anthracite mine from Sentula Mining.
As part of the transaction, Miranda Minerals is to take over a R100m loan, and that it had secured an offtake agreement for the coal.
De Bruin told BDLive in September that he and Wallington would be “a team”, and that he would “find the deals and he [Wallington] will vet them”.
De Bruin was largely responsible to resuscitating Miranda Minerals buying the company in 2012 through his investment company, Incubex.
Miranda Minerals posted a loss for the year ended August 31 of R24m, a R52m reversal year-on-year. Included in the R24m loss is a R7.8m share-based payment expense.
