29 Jan 2020

Four companies have shown interest in buying the closed BCL mine, which was closed in October 2016, resulting in 5 000 job losses.

The BCL liquidator, Mr Trevor Glaum informed Members of Parliament after a tour of the BCL mine on Tuesday that since his appointment, he had been working closely with the government to explore the potential of salvaging the mines by selling them.

He said he continued to liaise with several buyers for the BCL assets, adding that to date four interested parties had signed letters of consent, two of which had already started the due process, whilst the remaining two would start shortly.

Mr Glaum said by end of this year, the buyers should have been determined, failing which the mine would not be sold as a whole as desired, but in different parts.

He further informed the MPs that auction of the BCL non-core and scrap assets went well with more than 1 200 people in attendance.

He said the assets accrued a gross realisation in excess of P6 million, with proceeds going towards care and maintenance costs, which was vital to keep the mine accessible for future mining.

The liquidator said he was currently preparing a process for the tender for the matter, a product created from the smelter, which was metal rich, revealing that various parties had expressed interest in acquiring it.

The MPs were also updated about the earth tremors, which hit Selebi Phikwe late 2018 up to 2019 and progress made so far.

Dr Koketso Botepe of Geo-Science Institute, whose organisation was engaged by the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security to carry out an investigation on the seismic events, informed MPs that most events occurred 980 metres below surface, coincident with the BCL South East Extension Shaft.

He said investigations showed a good correlation between the recorded tremors and the rise in water level over the period of recordings, as most seismic events were recorded in the area where flooding was allowed.

Mr Botepe informed MPs that none of the events recorded since June 2019 were expected to have caused any structural damage, but it was also possible for repeated low magnitude tremors to cause structural damage over time.

Members of parliament commended all stakeholders involved in the liquidation of the mine for doing their best to have it sold.

Member of parliament for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse said in an interview that he was happy with the progress made by the new liquidator.

He said there was a future in the mine, hence four potential buyers had shown interest in it, urging the government to remove all the hurdles to enable private investors to take over. ENDS