Baroka could bid R1.8bn for Bokoni mine stake

Johannesburg – South Africa’s Baroka Platinum will offer up to R1.8bn for Atlatsa Resources' stake in the joint venture Bokoni mine, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said Monday.

Toronto-based Atlatsa [JSE:ATL] owns 51% of the mine and the rest is in the hands of Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS], which has already said it plans to sell its stake in the mine that produced 170 000 tonnes of platinum group metals last year.

Baroka Platinum, part of the Baroka Tribal Mining business founded to help the impoverished Ga-Nkwana community, has already offered R3bn for Amplats' stake in the mine, documents seen by Reuters in February showed.

Amplats' stake in the four-shaft mine includes R1.7bn loaned to Atlatsa by the Anglo American unit.

Baroka Platinum aims to take advantage of a sector shake-up as producers sell off underperforming and labour-intensive shafts to improve profitability after last year's record five-month miners' strike.

Atlatsa spokesperson Prudence Lebina said the company has not received any offer for the stake in the Bokoni mine, which is the firm's only operating asset.

The proposed deal would give Baroka Platinum, which currently relies on royalty payments, its first production asset and allow it to funnel more money from the Bokoni mine to fulfill its stated mandate of building schools, clinics and roads for the Ga-Nkwana community's 90 000 people.

The community is located in the north-eastern part of South Africa in the Limpopo province.

Separately, Gangplank community members briefly blocked a road leading to Bokoni mine with burning tyres and rocks on Monday, preventing workers from reporting for work and prompting Atlatsa to halt production, Lebina said.

READ: Output hit as Atlatsa's mine set alight

It was unclear what the community was protesting against but Lebina said Atlatsa was planning to meet with local leaders to get to the bottom of what caused the protest.

Shares in Atlatsa, which have plunged more than 60% over the past twelve months, were little changed at R1.50 in Johannesburg, valuing the company at R844m.

Including debt, Atlatsa is valued at nearly R5bn, Thomson Reuters data shows.