Sound Clip - Mr Rob Devereux, Business Rescue Practitioner for Barbrook mine and Vantage Goldfields​.

According to Rob Devereux, whom has during mid-December been appointed as Business Rescue Practitioner for Barbrook mine and Vantage Goldfields, operations at Barbrook will recommence towards the end of January.
“Operations at this mine will be streamlined to ensure maximum output is generated under these trying circumstances,” he said.

Speaking to Devereux he said the challenges at Lily Mine has financially affected Barbrook and Vantage Goldfields. “They had to carry Lily’s overheads without a compensating revenue stream,” he said.

Operations at the mine was further hindered by political faction fighting in the community around the mine and recurrent blockades of access roads has further effected the mines ability to produce gold.  “These factors limited its ability to pay its overheads as well as salaries. These circumstances rendered the Companies financially distressed and led to both being placed into Business rescue,” he said.

We are confident that business within the Vantage Group has a prospect of being salvaged. The first creditors meeting for Barbrook and Vantage will be held on January 11. These strategies are to be made available during early March.

Devereux said: “Times have been challenging for all stakeholders within the entire Group. Whilst funding for the Lily had reached an advanced stage, this dynamic has changed as Barbrook too has funding requirements. The scope of discussions with potential investors and funders have now been widened to include funding for the entire Group and not just the Lily Mine.”

Employees are still owed salaries for November, but Devereux declared that every effort will be made to settle these as well as to safeguard that employees will receive salaries in the future.

Issued by: Ama’Zone Media t/a Africa InTouch
Written by: Anchen Coetzee
On behalf of: Vantage Goldfields Limited