SOUTH AFRICA – Pan African Resources PLC, a mid-tier African-focused gold producer, has announced that it has concluded its acquisition of Mogale Gold Pty Ltd and Mintails’ SA Soweto Cluster Pty Ltd.

The Rosebank-headquartered gold producer entered into agreements to buy these mines from Mintails Mining SA Pty Ltd for ZAR50.0 million (US$2.8m), in November 2020. Mintails Mining SA, which owns two mines, was placed in provisional liquidation in 2018.

The deadline to conclude the Mintails deal was already extended previously to August 31 before being lengthened again to September 30.

Pan African completed a definitive feasibility study on the Mogale Gold tailings storage facilities in June.

It has secured US$80 million senior debt from FirstRand Bank Ltd, acting through its Rand Merchant Bank division, to partly fund the construction of Mogale Gold facilities.

Construction is expected to start in April 2023 and commissioning is set for July to December 2024.

“Pan African is pleased to have finally closed the sale transaction. Our studies have demonstrated robust operational and financial economics, with the project having the potential to further increase our high-margin, long-life production from tailings retreatment operations,” Pan African Chief Executive Officer Cobus Loots said.

“The area where Mintails is situated presents a number of environmental and social challenges. We will require the assistance of the government and all the other legitimate stakeholders to successfully address those challenges, remediate the site and develop a world-class project.”

Following the completion of the DFS, Pan African commenced detailed engineering optimisation studies and the impact assessments required for the environmental authorisation process, stakeholder engagements and permitting.

Harmony Gold acquires Eva Copper project

Meanwhile, Harmony Gold is extending its diversification drive, announcing that it would buy a copper/gold project in Australia for up to US$230 million.

The gold miner will buy the Eva Copper project and its 2 100 km2 exploration land from Copper Mountain Mining for US$170 million in cash and up to US$60 million in contingent payments.

Eva will add 1.718-billion pounds of copper and 260 000 oz of gold to Harmony’s mineral reserves and extend the company’s diversification into copper, a future-facing metal critical to the energy transition.

The project is envisioned to be a conventional open-pit operation, which will produce more than 100 million pounds a year of copper production and 14 000 oz/y of gold over a 15-year mine life.

“Acquiring Eva Copper is strategically important to our growth journey. It opens a new copper/gold frontier for Harmony within a highly attractive Australian mining area, supplementing our 50% interest in the Tier 1 copper/gold Wafi-Golpu project.

“Eva Copper lowers our risk profile, providing additional scale and meaningful diversification that positions Harmony for the future,” said Harmony CEO Peter Steenkamp in a statement.

Harmony will fund the transaction, which already received approval from the South African Reserve Bank, with existing cash and available debt facilities.

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