De Beers today announced that the Superkolong Consortium has acquired its assets at Jagersfontein.
The property was put up for sale in March.
De Beers said in a statement that Superkolong met the technical, economic, community, and other criteria that De Beers set, including technical competence, available funding to develop the new processing operation, BEE equity participation, employment creation, and significant community-based initiatives in the area.
De Beers acting CEO Barend Petersen described the agreement as “another transaction to introduce miners with empowerment credentials to opportunities which have the potential to deliver significant returns for many. The impact, particularly at local government level, and in the Provinces where economic development is so important to communities near mining resources, cannot be overstated as development in the rural areas of South Africa can exponentially benefit the economy and therefore society.”
De Beers said in a statement that the Jagersfontein community would be the sole beneficiary of a community trust that would be established soon. The community trust “will hold 10 per cent equity ownership in the holding company that has acquired the Company’s assets,” De Beers said, adding that the trust would also receive R20 million in cash for investment and community projects.
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
