South Africa-based mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) is in talks to acquire the Bokoni Platinum Mine, a joint venture belonging to Johannesburg-based Anglo-American Platinum (Amplats) and Toronto-based Atlatsa Resources Corporation.
ARM is a leading South African diversified mining and minerals company with long-life and low unit cost operations. It is majority-owned by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe.
The deal will see ARM revive the abandoned mine in Limpopo Province.
In 2017, Atlatsa Resources placed Bokoni under care and maintenance as part of a debt-cancellation and restructuring deal with Amplats.
According to Amplats: “The objective of the sale process is to identify an appropriate owner with operational, technical and financial capacity, to restart and operate the mine in a safe and sustainable basis, to support economic growth and job creation in the area and the broader Limpopo Province.”
Amplats is the world’s number-one platinum group metals miner and a unit of global miner, Anglo American.
Before the mine was shut down, Bokoni laid off more than 6,000 workers in 2015, one-third of its workforce and 400 more in 2017.
However, Amplats considered the sale of the operations as part of its divestment strategy by 2019.
