JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused Avocet Mining has placed most of its workers at its Inata gold mine, in Burkina Faso, on “technical unemployment” for the next three months, as the company seeks to lower fixed costs during production stoppages.
Production at the Inata mine continues to be affected by shortages of critical mine supplies, which Avocet could not fund, owing to the knock-on effects of the suspension of operations in October and November last year.
“Management has started discussions with the trade creditors, banks and government to stabilise Société des Mines de Bélahouro with a view to restructure its debts. This will represent a considerable challenge, with compromises needed from all stakeholders,” the mining company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Avocet, which had its shares suspended on both the LSE and the Oslo Børs in May, after failing to meet a reporting deadline, also gave an update on its Tri-K transaction with Managem.
The company has received a Presidential decree formalising a mining convention for its Tri-K project, in Guinea, paving the way for a partial sale to Morocco-based Managem.
The publication of the decree will trigger 'first closing', at which point Avocet will transfer a 40% interest in Tri-K to Managem for $4-million. First closing is expected to happen shortly.
Tri-K has an exploration area of 490 km2 and an existing reserve of 480 000 oz of gold.