COMPANIES
DRDGold assets 'not for sale'
Posted Tue, 29 Mar 2005
DRDGold's South African assets are not for sale, a company
spokesperson said on Monday.
"The previous position of the board is that these assets are not
for sale. I don't see why this should change, but I don't want to
pre-empt the board's decision," DRDGold spokesperson Ilja Graulich
told Sapa.
An announcement would be made after that.
His comments follow a letter of intent by niche mining company
Simmer & Jack that it had served letters of intent to purchase
DRD's South African assets.
One letter went to DRDGold chief executive Mark Wellesley-Wood
and another to the liquidator of DRDGold's North West Operations.
There was no indication of how much Simmer and Jack was offering
for the assets.
Simmer & Jack chair Roger Kebble said in a statement on
Monday his mine was ideally placed to save the mines because of the
company's operational expertise.
"We have access to some of the strongest operational teams
in
the industry ready to move in and save what can only be described
as a desperate situation."
Given DRDGold's precarious financial situation, it was no secret
that the company's financial problems had taken its toll on the
upkeep and maintenance of the North West operations, Kebble said.
Most of the monies DRDGold raised over the past few years were
spent on assets outside of the country which has left those in
South African undercapitalised.
"Both offers will be subject to certain conditions, specifically
a due diligence. If the conditions can be met, I believe we have a
proposal that will prevent permanent closure and save a substantial
number of jobs on which the local communities depend for their
existence," Kebble said.
Sapa
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