JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and JSE-listed Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) has again called on its shareholders to support its incumbent board members at an upcoming general meeting.
The company on June 1 told shareholders that a recently incorporated Hong Kong-based company Ka An Development, which had acquired a 13.79% stake in Eastplats in May, intended to nominate six new directors to replace the incumbent board members at a meeting in July.
“Based on a preliminary review, Eastplats believes the dissidents’ nominees are not as qualified as the incumbent board of directors. In particular, none of the dissidents’ nominees has disclosed experience directly relevant to the mining of platinum in South Africa,” Eastplats stated at the time.
Eastplats on Thursday reiterated its belief that the nominees proposed by Ka An did not have enough experience in the platinum mining sector.
Further, Eastplats chairperson, president and CEO David Cohen stressed that the company’s shares had maintained their value, despite lower platinum group metal prices, owing to the board’s strategic decision three years ago to place Eastplats operations on care and maintenance.
“Eastplats has outperformed its peers since then and, unlike its peers, Eastplats has not diluted shareholders with equity financings at distressed prices. The interests of the incumbent board are aligned with shareholders,” he stated.