Kebble seeks DRDGOLD’s North West mines
John Fraser
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DRDGOLD directors are this week expected to reject an offer from archrival Roger Kebble for the company’s solvent assets in SA.
However, Kebble said yesterday that he would still pursue DRDGOLD’s North West mines near Klerksdorp, which were placed in liquidation last week.
Simmer and Jack Mines, which is chaired by Kebble and which would be the vehicle for acquiring DRDGOLD assets, said yesterday that it had “delivered a letter of intent to purchase the South African assets of DRDGOLD to the CEO, Mark Wellesley-Wood”.
“In addition, a letter had also been delivered to the provisional liquidators of DRDGOLD’s North West assets indicating that Simmer & Jack wished to make an offer for Buffelsfontein and Hartebeesfontein mines.”
But DRDGOLD spokesman Ilja Graulich said yesterday that while a letter had been received saying that Simmer and Jack wished to make an offer, “that’s all the letter says”.
Graulich said the DRDGOLD board would consider the offer, through informal consultations “and will make a response”.
He said that DRDGOLD had said in the past that its Blyvoor and Crown Gold assets — the company’s South African mining operations which are not in liquidation — “are not for sale”.
Kebble said he could not say how much would be offered for any of the DRDGOLD operations until due diligence had been conducted.
“We will take a view once we have had a look at the condition of the operations,” he said.
“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.”
He said he urgently wanted a response from the provisional liquidator of the North West operations “as the mines will deteriorate very quickly”.
“I have been reliably informed that were we to succeed in our bid, we would have to commit to extensive structural changes and costs in order to ensure a productive working environment.
“Most of the monies raised over the past few years by DRDGOLD have been spent on assets outside of the country, which has left the South African assets undercapitalised.”
Kebble said that Simmer & Jack was ideally placed to “save” the DRDGOLD mines because of its 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.
“Urgent action is needed. Morale is at an all-time low and relations with labour seem to have broken down completely.
“It is astonishing to me that labour is now being taken to task over its productivity while ignoring management`s failure to provide leadership to the workforce.
“This industry is doomed unless we can unlock the human potential of the workforce and work together to create a sustainable future. In order to achieve this one requires leadership from management.”
Kebble said that if funds were required for the purchase of any of DRDGOLD’s assets “we could do a deal without any trouble at all”.
He said that he would prefer to buy all of DRDGOLD’s assets, but would still be interested if the liquidated assets alone were available.
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