Pan African to acquire gold tailings retreatment projects

Pan African has announced that the Company has entered into conditional agreements to acquire Mogale Gold and Mintails SA Soweto Cluster. Both Mogale Gold and MSC are 100% owned by Mintails Mining SA, which was placed in provisional liquidation during 2018. The Proposed Transactions will be a maximum of ZAR50 million (approximately $3.1 million).

The combined Mineral Resources of Mogale Gold and MSC comprise historic tailings storage facilities(TSFs) that contain an estimated 243Mt of tailings with an in-situ grade of 0.30g/t gold, for an estimated gold content of 2.36Moz of gold, constituted as follows:

• The Mogale Gold TSFs, which comprise various individual dams, containing an estimated 123Mt of re-mineable material at a head grade of 0.29g/t, for an estimated content of 1.16Moz of gold; and
• The MSC TSFs which comprise nine separate facilities with resources of 119Mt at 0.31g/t, containing an estimated gold content of 1.20Moz.

Pan African and its subsidiaries have a proven track record of successfully commissioning and operating tailings retreatment projects, as demonstrated by the Barberton tailings re-treatment plant, the Evander tailings re-treatment plant and most recently its flagship Elikhulu operation.

The Proposed Transactions are conditional on due diligence and feasibility studies over a period of six to nine months (to Pan African’s sole and absolute satisfaction) and other conditions precedent typical for a transaction of this nature, including, inter-alia, consent for the transfer of the mining right by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), approval from the South African Competition Commission authorities if applicable, and approval for the provisional liquidators to implement the Proposed Transactions.

Cobus Loots, Pan African’s CEO, commented: “The opportunity to acquire these surface resources complements our strategy of focusing on safe, low cost gold mining opportunities, with the potential to further grow our business by developing projects that meet our stringent investment criteria”.