The Rosh Pinah mine, in Namibia
Embattled base metals miner Trevali Mining has kicked off a court-approved sales process for its interest in the 90%-owned Rosh Pinah mine, in Namibia, and its fully-owned Caribou mine, in Canada.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia last week granted a sales and investment solicitation process (SISP) order for the two mines, which Trevali aims to conclude before the end of the year.
According to a timeline published, the final bid deadline for Caribou will be November 4 and for Rosh Pinah will be November 21.
Trevali in August suspended operations at Caribou and placed the expansion of Rosh Pinah on hold, after it filed for protection from its creditors. The miner has suffered several setbacks lately, including a flooding event that shuttered its Perkoa mine, in Burkina Faso, leading to the deaths of eight people.
Last week, a Burkina Faso court found two executives working for Trevali guilty of involuntary manslaughter. South African Hein Frey was fined $3 000 and given a suspended 24-month prison sentence. Australian Daryl Christensen, who worked for Trevali contractor Byrnecut, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence and fined $1 500.
On Friday, Trevali announced that its president and CEO Ricus Grimbeek had resigned from the company, and that COO Derek du Preez would depart by mid-October.
Grimbeek was CEO of Trevali for nearly three-and-a-half years, while Du Preez also joined more than three years ago.
Trevali said Grimbeek determined that it was an appropriate time for him to step away, given the SISP order and the sales processes under way for Rosh Pinah and Caribou.
Du Preez would remain with the company until October 14, to support a transition of operational, technical and other aspects of the business, as well as the initial phase of the SISP.
Dan Isserow has resigned as a director of the company. Isserow was first appointed to the board of directors in October 2017, following the acquisition by the company of the Perkoa and Rosh Pinah mines.
National Bank Financial has been appointed as Trevali’s sales agent for the purposes of the SISP.