Buffalo Coal's Aviemore project
TSX- and JSE-listed Buffalo Coal Corporation’s subsidiary has advised it is negotiating with Investec Bank to restructure a remaining outstanding loan amount.
Investec initially agreed to defer the final maturity date of the remaining R46-million owed on the loan to February 28, before being approached with restructuring negotiations.
Buffalo owns 100% of Buffalo Coal Dundee, which has a 70% interest in Zinoju Coal. Zinoju, in turn, holds a 100% interest in the Magdalena bituminous mine, the Aviemore East anthracite mine and the Balgray and North Adit anthracite projects in South Africa.
Buffalo CEO Emma Oosthuizen says the corporation continues to actively engage with Investec on the restructuring of the loan, with the aim of securing an “achievable and acceptable solution” for the parties without compromising the corporation’s ability to develop the Balgray project, even at limited scale.
The company is also in continuous discussions with existing and potential new investors.
Balgray is the group’s highest-priority project and will extend the anthracite operations by about seven years. Notably, there is pressure for the project to become operational before the first quarter of 2023, as it is meant to replace the diminishing reserves of the Aviemore East project.
Buffalo has been reporting interim and full-year operating losses for the past few years, particularly a basic loss a share of 31c for the six months ended June 31, 2021.