Diversified mineral development company Bushveld Minerals has signed a share purchase agreement with Evraz for control of the Vametco vanadium mine and processing plant in South Africa’s North West province.
This signing by the London Aim-listed company, headed by CEO Fortune Mojapelo, follows last month’s exclusivity deal of the potential acquisition of Evraz’s 78.8% economic interest in Strategic Minerals Corporation, a holding company for the group of companies that owns the producing Vametco.
Its wholly owned Bushveld Vametco has put in an offer of $17.2-million, which Mojapelo described as being “less than 10% of the replacement value”.
The company said in a release to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly that it was at an advanced stage of negotiation with funding partners.
The mine’s 30-million-tonne-plus resource is said to be sufficient to support the operations for more than 20 years at current production levels.
Bushveld’s own vanadium project in Brits is a continuation of the strike of the Vametco mine’s deposit, with similar vanadium grades.
Previously disadvantaged South Africans hold a quarter of the shares of the 473-employee operation, which also produces vanadium (III) oxide.