[miningmx.com] — CENTRAL Rand Gold (CRG) may have to close its mine as early as next week after a government order, the Sunday Times reported, citing Bheki Khumalo, spokesman for the Department of Mineral Resources.
CRG, in which ex-con-turned-businessman Kenny Kunene is a shareholder, breached certain rules related to its mining rights at the mine near Soweto, Johannesburg, the Johannesburg-based weekly newspaper said, citing a notice sent to the company by Mining Minister Susan Shabangu.
Khumalo told Bloomberg News in a follow-up article that the order didn’t necessarily mean the mine would close this week. A shutdown will depend on a number of factors, he said.
Kunene and fellow ex-con, Gayton McKenzie, had no mining experience, but were paid at least R13.5m in shares, salaries and bonuses for convincing poor communities in Soweto to support the mine by promising them jobs, poverty relief projects and shares, the Sunday Times reported.
In salaries alone, Kunene and McKenzie earned R4.7m a year, launching their spectacular rise from rags to riches, the newspaper said.
Kunene went from selling fish from his car boot to eating fish [sushi] off models, driving supercars and hobnobbing with President Jacob Zuma, it said.
CRG may also have broken London and Johannesburg stock exchanges rules by failing to disclose to shareholders, who have sunk R1.67bn into it, that government is considering shutting down the mine, the Sunday Times said.
The rules contravened and which may force CRG to lose its mining permit relate to labour and social plans for the local community.
