Simmers studies options for First Uranium stakeTORONTO (miningweekly.com) - JSE-listed Simmer & Jack Mines hasset up a special committee of directors to review its options withregard to the company's 37% holding in First Uranium, it reported onFriday.
Simmers also said that Vusi Khanyile had been elected chairperson and Bernard Swanepoel appointed deputy chairperson at a board meeting on Tuesday.
The investment committee, which will consider the First Uranium holding, is headed by Swanepoel and also includes Ralph Havenstein, David Brown, Suart Murray and Peter Sergey.
Earlierthis week, First Uranium announced that it would curtail goldproduction and defer capital projects after the South Africangovernment withdrew and environmental permit to build a tailingsstorage facility at its Mine Waste Solutions operation.
"Theinvestment committee is currently considering the various optionsavailable to Simmers to protect and optimise the company's investmentin First Uranium," Simmers said in a statement on Friday/
"It isworth noting that the board has mandated the investment committee toactively work with First Uranium in finding sustainable solutions toits funding and permitting problems and this has been communicated tothe First Uranium board."
First Uranium said in its announcement this week that it was reviewing strategic alternatives for financing.
InAugust last year, the miner received a one-year term credit facility ofR160-million from shareholder Simmers, and it has also signedgold-streaming deals for a percentage of the gold production from bothof its operations with Canada's Gold Wheaton.
Gold Wheaton,which has a contract to buy 25% of the gold produced at MWS at a fixedprice, warned this week that the that the curtailment announced onTuesday could trigger a $42-million penalty payment due to Gold Wheatonif the project does not pass a technical completion test by June 1.
First Uranium CEO Gordon Miller and chairperson Nigel Brunetteheld the same positions at Simmers until this month, when they agreedto step down under pressure from the company's empowerment partnerVulisango.
Meanwhile, Simmers also noted that it will publish financial results for the December quarter on February 19.
Thefirm's Buffelsfontein operation, which currently produces around 92% ofthe company's gold, performed in line with guidance, while the TauLekoa mine exceeded expectations during the quarter, Simmers said.
However, production at Transvaal Gold Mining Estates was lower than expected due to excessive
rainfall in the Mpumalanga region, which impacted on leaching operations.
Edited by: Liezel Hill