Canadian mining company in talks to buy idle Zimbabwean gold mine
The miner wants to be exempted from a law that requires producers to sell all the metal to the country’s central bank
B2Gold of Canada is considering buying an idled Zimbabwean gold mine, if it can be exempted from a law that requires producers to sell all the metal to the country’s central bank, people familiar with the situation said. Securing an exemption may open the way for further investment by gold producers in the country , where a number of companies have closed mines because of the sales requirements and Zimbabwe’s economic crisis. If a transaction with owner Metallon is concluded, B2Gold will invest $150m to $200m developing the Shamva gold mine, one of the people said. The Vancouver-based company will pay about a third of the book value for the mine, which was last assessed at about $167m seven years ago. John Mangudya, the central bank governor, was unavailable to comment. A B2Gold spokesperson had no immediate comment, while a spokesperson for Metallon declined to comment.
The purchase would be an unusual investment in Zimbabwe’s struggling gold sector, with the two biggest ...
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