City Press reports that the Mpumalanga provincial government is ready to throw a lifeline to cash-strapped Australian company Vantage Goldfields to save jobs at its two mothballed mines.  

During his state of the province address last Friday Premier David Mabuza said that the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (Mega) had been instructed to explore the viability of creating a diversified, state-owned mine to rescue jobs – particularly at Lily and Barbrook mines.  The business rescue practitioner at the mines, Rob Devereux, said he would begin negotiations with Mega.  He advised that he had managed to acquire more than half of the R300 million required to reopen the two mines from various investors, but nothing could happen until the full amount was procured.  Mega CEO Xola Sithole said the parastatal was open to acquiring a stake in the mines and raising capital to reopen them.  Before the mines were placed under business rescue, they employed more than 1,000 workers, 900 of whom were attached to Lily mine.

• Read this report by Sizwe Sama Yende in full at City Press

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