THURSDAY, 12.30PM:
ANGLO American and Gold Fields are getting closer to establishing a deal whereby the companies will jointly mine Driefontein gold mine.
The deal will nullify conflict that has arisen over control of an asset both groups covet.
Sources in the Industry on Wednesday indicated that Gold Fields — the result of a merger of Gencor and Gold Fields of SA (GFSA), initially known as Goldco — and Anglo American’s gold division Anglogold, could form a 50/50 venture and agree to mine Driefontein independently.
Anglo American owns 19% of Driefontein, with Gold Fields holding 37%. GFSA last year tried to get shareholders to vote to increase Driefontein’s issued share capital, which would have given it the voting power to use the mine as the listing vehicle for the new Gold Fields.
That plan was, however, foiled by Anglo, which has had its own plans for Driefontein for some time. Anglogold said that it would make sense to bring Driefontein into its stable, due to its common geology with Anglogold’s Western Deep Levels mine.