Pamodzi Liquidator May Sell Mines Managed by Aurora Empowerment to Chinese

Virgile Mining of South Africa said it may join an unidentified Chinese company to buy two gold mines belonging to Pamodzi Gold Ltd. for between 800 million rand ($106.7 million) and 1 billion rand.

The deal for the Orkney and East Rand mines will only go through should Aurora Empowerment Systems Ltd. fail to meet a deadline to pay for the operations, Virgile Chief Executive Officer Hettie Fourie said in a phone interview today from the company’s headquarters in Welkom, in Free State province. The company will know the outcome later today, Fourie said.

The Chinese partner is “a reputable and reliable company, which is already doing big business in South Africa,” she said.

Pamodzi’s liquidators are in talks with a Chinese company as a “Plan B” if Aurora is unable to come up with the funds, Enver Motala, one of the liquidators, said on the phone from Johannesburg, declining to give the company’s name. Virgile isn’t involved in the talks, Motala said.

“We’ve given Aurora time to come up with their guarantees,” Motala said. “If they come up with their funding letters this won’t go ahead.”

Business Report earlier reported the proposal, citing an unidentified person familiar with the talks.

Motala denied that he confirmed to the Johannesburg-based newspaper that Virgile and the Chinese company may buy the mines. Zondwa Mandela, managing director of Aurora, didn’t immediately respond to a message left on his mobile phone seeking comment.

Aurora has raised $100 million from a U.S. company to help finance the acquisition of the two mines, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in Johannesburg at fwild@bloomberg.net.