JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The shares of Central Rand Gold (CRG) rose 5% on Tuesday as a third Chinese suitor expressed interest in taking control of the water-challenged operation beneath this golden city.

The London- and JSE-listed company, headed by CEO Johan du Toit, named the latest bidder as Shengbang Jiabo of Beijing, which, like Hiria of Hong Kong, is also offering $150-million cash for 100% of CRG’s Netherlands company, which owns the assets.

Three more suitors are reportedly waiting in the wings to make additional bids and a formal share sale agreement is expected by March 31.

Mining Weekly Online reported the Hiria bid of $150-million cash on November 11 and the Ankong bid of $148-million cash on November 21.

In each case, the memorandums of understanding signed are substantively similar, each involving due diligence prior to the disposal of CRG’s wholly owned subsidiary CRG Netherlands Antilles.

The multiplicity of bids has prompted CRG to make a virtual data room available to interested parties, as well as the arrangement of site visits.

On the operational front, CRG has temporarily suspended its water-constrained underground mining activities to focus on its previously mothballed opencast targets.

The suspension of underground operations took place after State water organisation Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority called for an upgrade to the company’s high-density sludge plant, which lowers underground water levels.

Until that upgrade is complete, which is expected in early 2015, the company will focus on opencast targets, where mechanical ripping and other rock-breaking technology provides access to between 91 000 t and 350 000 t of gold-bearing reef with grades of up to 2.5 g/t.

A return to the high-grade underground working areas will be reassessed once the sludge plant thickeners are upgraded and the water table lowered.