DRD - DrdGold Limited - Underground operations of East Rand Proprietary Mines
DRD
DRDD
DRD - DrdGold Limited - Underground operations of East Rand Proprietary Mines
Limited ("ERPM") to be placed on care and maintenance; Section 189A consultation
process to begin
DRDGOLD LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1895/000926/06)
JSE share code: DRD
ISIN: ZAE000058723
Issuer code: DUSM
Nasdaq trading symbol: DROO
("DRDGOLD")
Underground operations of East Rand Proprietary Mines Limited ("ERPM") to be
placed on care and maintenance; Section 189A consultation process to begin
DRDGOLD announced today that it has advised unions of its intention to place on
care and maintenance the underground operations of the ERPM mine of its 74%-
owned operating subsidiary, DRDGOLD South African Operations (Pty) Limited, and
to proceed with a consultation process in terms of Section 189A of the Labour
Relations Act to determine the future of the mine`s 1 700 employees.
Underground mining at the ERPM mine was halted on 31 October 2008 when pumping
infrastructure could no longer cope with rising underground water levels.
Management informed unions today that an investigation into the possibility of
installing additional pumping infrastructure had confirmed a capital cost of
some R115 million and a timeframe of more than 12 months.
The capital cost and the cost of maintaining the workforce on full pay are
beyond the financial means of ERPM, which incurred a loss of R128.1 million
after accounting for impairment of assets for the quarter ended 30 September
2008 and a loss of R102.7 million before tax in the previous financial year
ended 30 June 2008.
In anticipation of placing ERPM`s underground operations on care and
maintenance, the decision was taken to proceed with the Section 189A process.
Randburg
19 November 2008
Sponsor: QuestCo Sponsors (Pty) Limited
Date: 19/11/2008 17:21:19 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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