Funding uncertainty hangs over Wesizwe Platinum

UNCERTAINTY hangs over the liquidity of Wesizwe Platinum after its auditor declined to verify the miner’s going concern status.SNG Grant Thornton “expressed a disclaimer of review conclusion” on Wesizwe Platinum’s interim results ended June, according to an update to the JSE.This was after the mining firm was unable to provide proof of future funding from its controlling shareholder China Africa Jinchuan. Wesizwe appears to have exceeded a funding cap of about $1.5bn and requires approval for more funds from the China National Development and Reform Committee.Wesizwe Platinum has run into problems commissioning its Bakubung project which was initially scoped to produce 420,000 ounces of PGMs a year. In September, Wesizwe said it would ramp up production from the North West province mine in the first quarter.“Jinchuan HK and Jinchuan Group are in the process of reviewing the current updated funding application report which will determine the excess funding required for the Bakubung Project to achieve operational completion,” said Wesziwe Platinum today.“This will be submitted to NDRC to support the approval further funding required for the project. As at the date of this announcement, this process is ongoing and is expected to be completed before the end of December 2024.”Wesizwe Platinum added that Jinchuan had undertaken to provide additional funds including extending near-dated loans totallling $156m by three years to December 2027.The PGM sector is under pressure following heavy declines in rhodium and palladium prices over the last two years. Wesizwe Platinum has cut jobs but out of 345 redundant positions, only 13 were retrenched of which seven were absorbed by the company’s training services provider, it said earlier this year.A switch in mining method at the Bakubung as well as the effects of two strikes in each of 2022 and 2023, and a third unprotected, five-week stoppage have compounded the mine’s commissioning problems.The post Funding uncertainty hangs over Wesizwe Platinum appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.comWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com