Village Main Reef Limited has offered to acquire the Blyvooruitzicht gold mine from DRDGold for R150 million.
Village said the acquisition would be an opportunity for it to apply specialist skills to unlock further value from Blyvoor going forward, as well as providing Blyvoor with access to Village’s significant management and operational skills, thereby creating a platform for sustainable and socially responsible future development.
DRD said it wished to achieve clear separation of its surface and underground operations, in accordance with its stated strategy.
Situated on the north-western edge of South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin, to the south of the town of Carletonville and 70 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg in the North West Province, Blyvoor mined its first ore in 1942.
The mine has both underground mining and surface tailings retreatment operations and a carbon-in-leach gold plant with the capacity to treat around 400,000 tonnes per month.
DRD currently owns 74 per cent of Blyvoor.
The two companies have entered into a break-fee agreement, under which terms DRD has granted Village an exclusive right, for a period of 60 days from 7 November 2011, to acquire DRD’s interest in Blyvoor.
Village is expected to simultaneously enter into a sale and purchase agreement with DRD and a contract mining agreement with Blyvoor under which all mining activities conducted by Blyvoor will be managed by Village on behalf of Blyvoor.
The contract mining agreement is expected to become effective on or around 1 February 2012 and continue until all necessary approvals and consents have been obtained.
