The Leviev Group transaction closed last week following shareholder and Toronto Stock Exchange approval and the subscription of $15-million (U.S.) for 37.7 million common shares of the company. Terms of the subscription have been previously announced.
In addition, the company’s three Namibian subsidiary companies were discharged from provisional liquidation last week. All creditors in these companies have been compromised or are in the process of being compromised in full and final settlement of their claims.
MV Ya Toivo has resumed operation in mining licence 51 and the company estimates that the commissioning process for the Nam 2 seabed crawler mining tool and the MV Ya Toivo is more than half complete, following delays due to the suspension of operations during provisional liquidation. Before the provisional liquidation, only eight weeks of commissioning had been completed. An improvement in operational efficiency is expected with improved operator familiarity, and fine tuning of the new 100 tons per hour DMS processing plant and of the new mining tool.
The company has lodged a $5-million (U.S.) guarantee as part of the agreement with the vessel owner to secure MV Ya Toivo.
The return to operation with the remaining vessels will take place in stages throughout the year. The company plans to resume exploration in areas with thin sediment cover from MV Zacharias before month-end, prior to recommissioning the Wirth exploration drill later in the year.
“We are making progress in taking the company forward,” said chairman and chief executive officer Alastair Holberton. “We do not underestimate the challenges but are committed to rebuilding value for our stakeholders.”
WARNING: The company relies upon litigation protection for “forward-looking” statements.
