13 Oct 2016

Liquidator Mr Nigel Dixon-Warren is expected to provide government with a report in February about whether BCL Limited could continue operating or be shut down completely.

Government appointed Mr Dixon-Young of KPMG as provisional liquidator of the loss-making BCL Limited on Sunday after ceasing operations at BCL and the Tati Nickel mines on Saturday.

Chairperson of BCL Board Dr Khaulani Fichani explained on Tuesday (October 11) that the whole process of provisional liquidation would take four months.

Addressing a press conference at Fairgrounds Holdings in Gaborone, Dr Fichani said the decision to enter provisional liquidation was made because government could not afford to finance BCL losses anymore.

He said BCL had operated at a loss for a while due to plummeting metal prices and high operation costs at the Selebi Phikwe mine.

“We have decided to go into compulsory liquidation by the shareholder with the hope that the liquidator will assess option available for BCL Group. In terms of how long the whole process will take, it will be four months,” Dr Fichani said.

Additionally, Dr Fichani said the liquidator will be tasked with finding a partner for government in operating the mine.

Speaking at the same press conference, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Mr Kgomotso Abi said the liquidator would either reconfigure the whole operations of the mine or close it completely.

“Provisional liquidation is a process where you bring in someone to see what can be salvaged from the operations. He will look at the whole set-up and see if it is possible to reconfigure the mine and which operations should be stopped,” Mr Abi said.

He said the BCL Group has about 4 000 employees at its Selebi Phikwe mine and 700 at Tati Nickel mine.

Mr Abi said the BCL Mine in Selebi Phikwe was no longer profitable because it was old with depressed ore resources. “It was built around 1972 and it is a fairly old mine. Mining costs have gone up over time while metal prices have gone down,” he said.

He said this scenario caused the mine to operate at a loss and becoming insolvent. ENDS