De Beers Sells Kimberley Mines Assets in Face of Opposition

Mining Weekly reported that despite opposition from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd.’s (DBCM) sale of Kimberley Mines has gone through.
The major diamond miner sold Kimberley Mines to Ekapa Mining and Petra Diamonds. Petra has reportedly bought many of DBCM’s discarded mines over the years.
As quoted in the market news:

Being sold as a going concern means that the provisions of Section 197 of the Labour Relations Act will apply, stopping the new owners from making employment conditions less favourable, and DBCM has reportedly held several meetings with NUM to allay fears that the sale would result in job losses.
Ekapa is acquiring control of the Kimberley Mines from De Beers at a time of sky-high diamond prices in local currency terms.
Already enjoying a healthy margin of profit in mining Kimberley tailings for the past 25 years, Ekapa’s upbeat Jahn Hohne told Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online in a telephone interview last year that his empowered company had no trouble at all in paying its share of the R102-million purchase price in cash.
The Ekapa/Petra consortium beat off more than 70 other bidders in a competitive process.

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