Western Areas WKN 854 633 ISIN ZAE000016549 WAR Oder Kebble´s Trojanisches Pferd

  • ellenlanger Artikel, aber alles kursrelevant



    Board meets on South Deep gold expansion Thursday
    ===========================================


    Posted: '27-JUL-05 15:28' GMT Mineweb
    =================================



    JOHANNESBURG (Mineweb.com) -- The Western Areas and Placer Dome


    joint venture (PDWA JV) board is set to meet on Thursday (July 28) to


    approve the proposed expansion project at the South Deep gold mine,


    says chief executive, Brett Kebble.



    “Should this plan be approved by the PDWA JV board, it could lead to an


    increase in production to more fully utilise capital invested,” according to


    the Western Areas annual report released at the end of June.





    Following this development, South Deep is expected to operate at a


    monthly mill throughput of 320,000 tonnes of reef and cash costs of


    R57,000/kilogram, doubling annual gold production to approximately
    =====================================================


    800,000 ounces. The capital expenditure net of revenue attributable to
    =============


    Western Areas over the next three years is R500 million.




    This would be another step in sorting out the financial difficulties that


    currently beset Western Areas. The company’s auditors, KPMG, even


    issued an emphasis of matter paragraph in the annual report.



    To finance its half of South Deep’s expansion and existing capex,


    Western Areas is looking to raise R800 million through a rights offer


    which it announced earlier this year.



    The circular for the offer will be sent out next Friday says Kebble, while


    the actual offer will be complete by the end of August.



    At the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Kebble told


    shareholders that, while the latest rights issue was not being


    underwritten, the company’s large shareholders had given assurances


    that they would follow their rights.




    “Why pay underwriting costs if most shareholders are going to follow


    their rights?” Kebble asked one inquisitive shareholder at the meeting.



    Last year, JCI, underwrote a R400-million rights offer, which was


    eventually 63% subscribed. As a result of the underwriting, JCI, where


    Kebble is chief executive, increased its Western Areas stake to 39.5%.




    This time round, “JCI will apply for as many excesses as it possibly can,”


    says Kebble. Although JCI’s current cash flow situation is also not so spiffy.



    At Wednesday’s AGM, shareholders approved the issue of 36 million new shares.



    No price has been given yet, but Western Areas share price has been


    slipping of late. On Monday, the shares traded at a 12-month low of


    R17.75 each, considerably off the R30.50 per share price of last year’s rights issue.



    When the upcoming rights offer was first announced, Western Areas


    shares were trading at R23 each.




    The hedge
    ========



    Kebble told Mineweb on Wednesday that the Western Areas turnaround


    will go in the order of “Mine plan, rights issue, hedge.”



    In this year’s March quarter, Western Areas received R58,193/kg for its


    gold, compared to the quarter’s spot price that averaged more than R83,000/kg.



    On top of this, the long-term derivative liability stands at R1.8 billion in the


    company’s end-2004 balance sheet.




    Negotiations under way with the hedge banks, according to Western


    Areas, to restructure the derivative structure so as to reflect the forecast


    South Deep production profile more appropriately.




    The main banks involved are said to be the AIG Group and Investec.



    The annual report says that the gold committed in the derivative structure


    equates to only 5% of Western Areas’s attributable reserves and so the


    company would like to stretch it out to suit the mine plan better.




    Western Areas’s attributable interest in the proven and probable


    reserves categories amounts to 27.8 million ounces, with another 37.4


    million ounces of resources. According to the annual report, the reserve


    alone should support mining activities for more than another 60 years.




    Operationally better


    Without the hedge, South Deep is said to be doing much better.



    The June quarter was said to be 20% higher in terms of production than


    the previous quarter while also generating cash flow. The March quarter


    produced 1,452 kilograms of gold, which points to gold production of


    around 1,727 kilograms for the June quarter.




    “We were operationally cash-flow positive for the June quarter, net of the


    hedge,” said management at the AGM, “We should continue building up from there.”




    Roger Resigning


    Brett Kebble's father, Roger Kebble, also withdrew his nomination to be


    re-appointed to the board at the last minute.




    In a letter to Mafika Mkwanazi, the chairman of Western Areas, Kebble


    senior gave two reasons for his departure, one relating to commitments


    elsewhere and another at a potential conflict of interest.




    “During the last week or two, my time and commitment to Simmer & Jack


    has become time consuming and urgent,” said the withdrawal letter, “In


    addition to the former, there are areas of potential conflict with Simmer’s


    current interest in the Harmony number 4 shaft (Ezulwini).





    Roger Kebble is chairman of Simmer & Jack, which recently acquired


    and is attempting to turn around the North West gold operations that


    DRDGold placed in liquidation earlier this year.




    Share bottomed?


    Mkwanazi and Brett Kebble both, not surprisingly, said that they felt the


    company’s share price had bottomed out at the recent lows.



    Kebble said that those who bought in at the R18 a share level would be


    rewarded. Mkwanazi said that he himself was looking to enter the


    market at these low levels and would one day leave the shares for his children.



    But they are not alone, independent analyst, George Lequime at RBC


    Capital markets, recently gave Western Areas a rating of “outperform, speculative risk.”



    Price-target impediments to the RBC analyst’s 12-month price target


    price of R27.50 per Western Areas share include gold price fluctuations,


    rand exchange rates, inflation outlook, the production build up and



    working cost projections, as well as the company’s ability to raise the


    funding required to meet its forecast cash outflows.

  • Kein Thema für WAR; aber für Kebble-Aktivitäten insgesamt



    MINING WEEKLY vom 29.07.05


    'Win-win water solution possible in North West'
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    South African gold-miner AngloGold Ashanti indicated, at its half-year results presentation in Sandton yesterday, that it was optimistic of a positive resolution to the water-pumping problem in the Klerksdorp-Orkney-Stilfontein-Hartebeesfontein (Kosh) area both for the mining industry as well as for the country as a whole.


    AngloGold Ashanti South Africa region CEO Robbie Lazare said that there were ongoing court applications on which the company would not comment, but he indicated that serious and constructive discussions were under way involving three separate government departments as well as other mining groups.


    Lazar added that discussions are progressing and that the situation needs all stakeholders to cooperate.


    The three government departments currently involved include the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (Dwaf), the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat) and the Department of Minerals and Energy.


    To date, Dwaf has issued four directives compelling the miners, AngloGold Ashanti, DRDGold, Harmony Gold, Stilfontein and the liquidators of DRDGold's North West operations, to share pumping costs and provide the department with information.


    Deat has since stepped into the fray and indicated that it too may issue directives that mirror those issued by Dwaf unless miners provide it with compelling reasons not to.


    Last week, the department said that it would be evaluating responses before deciding on a course of action. It could not immediately be contacted for an update.


    It now appears, however, that that the departments will be working together to resolve the issue, according to Lazare.


    CEO Bobby Godsell indicated that the company aimed to turn the water problem into a valuable resource to the benefits of the whole country. This is a view oft stated by Simmer & Jack Mines CEO Gordon Miller, who would like to see Stilfontein turned into a water utility.


    Godsell did not discuss a possible solution in detail, but said he had been proud of the contribution that AngloGold Ashanti was making to the debate as well as the model of cooperative governance that is now emerging.


    However, the issue is beset with legal problems. Harmony Gold has taken the matter on appeal, which is yet to be heard, and a contempt of court order against Stilfontein - brought by Dwaf and AngloGold Ashanti - is complicated by the fact that Stilfontein's board of directors resigned en masse recently.


    Decision has been deferred to an unspecified date as closing arguments were heard this week.

  • aus MINING WEEKLY 29.07.05


    Kebble hits back as Placer claims $13m shortfall
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Western Areas CEO Brett Kebble has hit back at his Canadian partner Placer Dome, which claims to be owed $13-million by Western Areas to fund further development at the massive South Deep gold-mine on South Africa's West Rand.


    Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Vancouver-based company said it would seek “remedies” for the failure of its partner to pay its share of development costs. It was suggested that Placer might force Western Areas to sell its share of gold production from South Deep to cover the shortfall.


    South Deep is an equal joint venture between Western Areas and Placer Dome, and is the site of a multi-billion-rand twin-shaft project, which is some two years behind schedule in ramp-up to full production.


    In a statement Kebble claims that the $13-million loss could be traced directly to a lack of preventative maintenance while Placer Dome was managing the mine and prior to the appointment of an 'independent' CEO at South Deep in June last year.


    He said that Western Areas shareholders had lost “a small fortune” as a result of “mismanagement” and that Western Areas was “simply not prepared to keep on paying for their (Placer's) mistakes”.


    Kebble said the claim would now form part of an expanded arbitration proceeding, adding that Western Areas had also already notified Placer of its intention to claim substantial damages due to management failures when the Canadian group was in charge of the mine.


    In the statement, Kebble said that the $13-million related to additional losses suffered by Western Areas in the first quarter due to production problems, which he claimed were directly attributable to the poor management by Placer.


    Kebble said, however, that he was determined to maintain cordial relations with Placer Dome “but they must appreciate that our historical and current claims must be taken seriously and that we cannot be held accountable for decisions made on their watch”.


    He confirmed, meanwhile, that South Deep had enjoyed a strong second quarter ended June, with unit cash costs down 20% on the previous quarter. He said that a 24% increase in gold production over the previous quarter had boosted Western Areas' performance.


    “We have not yet completed the accounting but my feeling is that the second quarter will be as good as the record breaking December quarter,” he said.

  • Aus MININGMX.com vom 01.08.05


    JCI, Randgold suspended by JSE
    ============================



    Posted: Mon, 01 Aug 2005
    [miningmx.com] -- JCI and Randgold & Exploration have been suspended from the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) for failing to publish their financial figures, a development that raises questions over the health of the Kebble family empire.



    “The JSE Limited wishes to advise that, as a result of the company’s failure to comply with the JSE’s listings requirements by not submitting its provisional annual financial statements timeously, the listing of its securities has been suspended with immediate effect,” the JSE said of JCI in an announcement this morning.


    The JSE made a similar announcement about 10 minutes later in respect of Randgold & Exploration.


    John Burke, head of listings at the JSE, told Business Day today: “If we don’t have the reports by (today), then we will suspend them.” Quoting JCI spokesman David Barritt, Business Day said JCI staff were “working over the weekend to sort this issue out”.


    Brett Kebble, who is CEO of both companies, said recently that he was seeking more information regarding the company’s investments in certain Angolan diamond ventures. But the market is awash with speculation that Kebble’s mining empire is about to crumble under pressure of debt.


    For instance, Kebble is short $13m in development of South Deep, a gold mine on the West Rand of Johannesburg that another firm, Western Areas, owns in joint venture with Placer Dome. JCI has leant money to Western Areas which the latter is hoping to pay back by means of a rights offer.


    Another Kebble related company, Matodzi Resources, is flirting with bankruptcy after it was required by the JSE to restate its accounts such that certain preference shares had to be recorded on the balance sheet as debt. JCI offered to convert the preference shares into ordinary shares taking a 57% stake in Matodzi and diluting the company’s empowerment status.


    The suspension of JCI therefore also raises questions about its ability to bail out Matodzi Resources.
    we will suspend themThere are other suggestions that Brett Kebble’s mining investments are struggling to make ends meet. Randgold & Exploration is thought to have sold down its 32% stake in Randgold Resources, a UK and US listed gold mining and exploration company. Kebble said the shares had been optioned out and could be repurchased, but Mark Bristow, CEO of Randgold Resources, said there was no evidence of such lending of shares.


    It is thought that Kebble sold Randgold Resources shares to help meet financial commitments elsewhere within his network of mining investments.


    And yet Kebble related companies continue to grow their businesses elsewhere. Finance Week reported this week that OrlyFunt, Brett Kebble’s newly created empowerment vehicle, had bought 38 million shares in Sekunjalo Investments, an investment holding company with interests in healtcare and information technology.


    There is further trouble on the horizon for Kebble. The Nasdaq exchange in the US has threatened to delist Randgold & Exploration if it fails to publish its annual report.

  • aus Business Day vom 02-08-05



    Randgold & Exploration explains delay
    ==============================

    Gold miner Randgold and Exploration (RNG) detailed the reasons for the


    delay in the release of the group's audited financial results for the year


    ending December 2004.


    Yesterday, Randgold and Exploration's shares on the JSE were


    suspended as a result of the company's failure to submit its audited


    2004 annual financial statements by last Friday.


    On April 29, Randgold published preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2004. During the final audit, certain issues related to the Randgold accounts arose which slowed the completion of the annual financial statements, the company said. Previously, Randgold's investment in London-listed Randgold Resources was accounted for by equity accounting. In the course of the year, Randgold and Exploration loaned 9.9-million shares in Randgold Resources to Bookmark Holdings and although these shares were to be returned to Randgold, in terms of accounting rules there should have been a change in accounting for Randgold's investment in Randgold Resources. Expert advice was sought and after lengthy consideration it was concluded that the method of accounting had to be changed to one of investment accounting, which would see the fair value of investments reflected. As a result of the change, Randgold's preliminary results as previously published are to be revised to show the impact of taking the change in the market value of Randgold Resources to equity reserves and bringing to account a portion of the attributable income on an equity method. Another issue which arose was that the audited financial statements of a group subsidiary, Kabusha Mining and Finance changed significantly from those provided for in the preparation of the reviewed preliminary financial results published mainly as a result of the liability that has been raised of 52 million rand owing to Benoryn for Aflease (AFL) shares purchased. "This amount was not reflected in the accounts provided to compile the reviewed preliminary results," Randgold said. In the preliminary results, the fair value adjustments on listed investments were accounted for in equity reserves and the reduction in value was considered as not to be permanent nature. "Because of the continued low market price of these investments subsequent to year-end, in conjunction with the auditors it has been decided to account for this in the income statement now," Randgold and Exploration said. During the audit, obtaining information on the Angolan diamond concessions proved "extremely difficult" and was only resolved at the beginning of July. Final geological reports were only received late last week and the valuations are now complete, the company said. "We are working round the clock to incorporate the outstanding information into the final accounts. It is a large task but one that we believe is nearly complete. Given this, we are hopeful that the suspension will be short lived," said Randgold's Financial Director Hennie Buitendag. "On behalf of all of us at Randgold I would like to apologise for our failure to file on time; it is deeply regretted," he added.

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    Irgendwann ist genug
    Bin froh, vor kurzem mit RANGY den letzten "Kaffer" expediert zu haben.
    Zu dem ganzen Theater um den Rand, die neuen Nimmersatts usw paßt so richtig das Aktuelle:
    --------------------------------------------------------
    02.08.2005 - 13:52
    Gold/Südafrika: Generalstreik ab Sonntag möglich


    Bereits zum kommenden Sonntag könnte in fast allen Goldminen Südafrikas gestreikt werden. Insgesamt 170,000 Arbeiter könnten ihre Arbeit niederlegen und zu deutlichen Produktionseinbußen bei internationalen Gesellschaften wie AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields und Harmony Gold sorgen.


    Ein Gewerkschaftsvertreter kündigte an, dass ein Generalstreik frühestens am Sonntag ausgerufen werden könne. Zuvor sehe er keine Möglichkeit dazu.


    Afrika ist das Land mit den größten Goldvorkommen weltweit. Ein Generalstreik kann dort nur ausgerufen werden, wenn Vermittler der Regierung alle Verhandlungsmöglichkeiten als erfolglos einstufen und den Generalstreik anschließend genehmigen. Chefvermittler Frans Barker sagte gegenüber Reuters am Montag, dass Gewerkschaften einen Antrag zum Generalstreik gestellt haben, es aber bisher keine Ausstellung einer Genehmigung gab. Barker betonte, zunächst noch weitere Entwicklungen abwarten zu wollen.


    „Wir sehen die Möglichkeit für einen Generalstreik frühestens zur Spätschicht am Sonntag, aber es könnte auch später sein“, so Gwede Mantashe, Generalsekretär der Gewerkschaft National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).


    Grund für den von den Gewerkschaften gewollten Generalstreik sind ergebnislose Lohnverhandlungen. Die Minenarbeiter Südafrikas wollen an der Entwicklung der boomenden Industrie beteiligt werden. Der Antrag auf einen Generalstreik folgt
    zahlreichen regionalen Arbeitsniederlegungen in den letzten Wochen.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Grüsse
    Edel Man


    "Die Märkte haben nie unrecht, die Menschen oft." Jesse Livermore, 20.Jh.

    "Die Demokratie ist das Paradies der Schreier und Schwätzer, Phraseure, Schmeichler und Schmarotzer, die jedem sachlichen Talent weit mehr den Weg verlegen, als dies in einer anderen Verfassungsform vorkommt." E.von Hartmann

    Dieser Beitrag ist eine persönliche Meinung gem. Art.5 Abs.1 GG und Urteil des BVG 1 BvR 1384/16

  • 2. Art. zu JCI s. u.
    ===========


    Wie steht´s um WAR?
    =================


    Aus MININGMX.com vom 03.08.05



    le vulnerable to shareholder activism
    ==============================


    : Tue, 02 Aug 2005
    [miningmx.com] --


    Gray, the Cape-based fund management company, has raised the


    prospect of legal action if Brett Kebble, CEO of recently suspended


    Randgold & Exploration, has irretrievably sold down the company’s stake in Randgold Resources.





    That would be one conclusion from intriguing comments made by


    Stephen Mildenhall, chief investment officer of Allan Gray, which has


    interests in a number of Kebble aligned firms, principally a 25% stake in Western Areas.



    Speaking to Business Day, a South African newspaper, Mildenhall said


    Allan Gray would “consider its options” regarding the alleged sale of 9.9


    million shares in Randgold Resources by Randgold & Exploration. At a


    market value of some R1.3bn, the sale of these shares is a large


    enough transaction to have required the sanction of Randgold &


    Exploration shareholders. This is in terms of South Africa’s Companies


    Act, a fact Mildenhall acknowledges.



    The word from the Kebble camp is that Brett Kebble regards the loaning of the shares as “a technicality”. That sounds familiar if not ominous since a court investigation into Brett Kebble’s alleged share price manipulation, dating back to 2000 and involving the shares of Harmony Gold and former gold company, Randfontein Estates, has similarly been explained by Kebble.


    In an interview with Miningmx, Mildenhall repeated his concerns: “We would take it very seriously if Randgold & Exploration had sold its shares in Randgold Resources. It’s a very significant event. We will consider all our options.”


    Brett Kebble isn’t currently speaking to the press about this matter, but a danger for him is that even if Randgold & Exploration’s financial figures are submitted next week as expected, and the firm resumes trading on the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE), he will have erred enough to be charged with fresh allegations of corporate malfeasance.


    This, in turn, raises the prospect that his position at Western Areas,


    where he is also CEO, becomes compromised; untenable even.


    Assuming this turn of events, it’s possible Western Areas could ‘come


    into play’, although as Steve Shepherd, an analyst for JP Morgan,


    observed: “there aren’t any natural buyers’.




    Western Areas’ market attractiveness is profoundly constrained by a gold


    hedge account having pre-sold a large share of South Deep’s gold


    production until 2014, a 350,000 oz/year gold mine on South Africa’s


    West Rand that Western Areas shares in a 50:50 joint venture with Placer Dome.




    In a report written last month, the ‘toxic’ hedge book was estimated by


    RBC Capital Markets analyst, Georges Lequime, to have a liability of


    about $230m. “That sounds close to our estimate of the liability,” Shepherd said.



    “That’s a quantifiable liability that can be dealt with,” said another analyst


    who declined to be named. Were Kebble forced to resign from Western


    Areas, it’s entirely possible Allan Gray would settle the hedge book with a


    R2bn rights offer that would also serve to dilute JCI’s 39% stake in Western Areas.



    But it’s a complicated matter. Placer Dome has pre-emptive rights over Western Areas’ 50% stake in South Deep. Though it must be doubted the Canadian miner has the appetite to absorb the whole of South Deep, it would certainly use its pre-emptive stake to take a lead position in developing a new, more co-operative partner.


    In this light, Placer might conceivably frame a deal with an empowerment angle whilst simultaneously avoiding diluting its own 50% holding.


    And what of Anglo American? It was hoping to disinvest of its 15% stake in Western Areas via an empowerment deal with Inkwenkwezi, a company established by Kebble using his long-standing contacts.


    If Kebble’s mining empire is sinking beneath a pile of debt, Anglo will surely remain a shareholder in Western Areas. Perhaps it would still want to sell its shares? This is not to properly mention the potential role of Gold Fields, a firm that has long been associated with the deeper reaches of the South Deep deposit.


    There are more angles to the future of Western Areas than a treatise on Pythagoras.


    In the meantime, Mildenhall said his company would be examining the accounts of Randgold & Exploration next week. “We will see what the adjustment is,” he said of Randgold’s own disclosure that the value of the 9.9 million shares in Randgold Resources would be listed in investments and not equity accounted.


    “Randgold had an extension to submit these financial figures. To miss that is inexcusable,” Mildenhall said.


    Most of Allan Gray’s R900m investment in the Kebble companies is in Western Areas (about R80m is in JCI and Randgold & Exploration). But Mildenhall is adamant there’s value yet in Randgold.


    Allan Gray has also recognised the long-term value in Western Areas, and has a track-record of shareholder activism. Its resources investment officer, Sandy McGregor, is a non-executive director of Western Areas. “Any number of people could run Western Areas,” Mildenhall said.






    » JCI, Randgold suspended by JSE
    » JCI throws Matodzi lifeline
    » DRDGOLD issues writ against JCI
    » JCI walking fine line
    » Screws tighten on JCI



    JCI's debenture conundrum
    ==========================
    Vic de Klerk
    Posted: Tue, 02 Aug 2005
    [miningmx.com] -- THE reasonably sharp fall in JCI’s price from 29c to the current 16c/share during the past month is probably the result of cash flow problems rather than any of the scores of other uncertainties plaguing the group. Those include issues such as criminal charges against the Kebbles (father Roger and son Brett) and also the JSE threatening to suspend the company’s listing because its financial statements for the year to March 2005 are still outstanding.



    Furthermore, nothing has come so far of the group’s black partner – OrlyFunt – which was going to be listed without delay and make JCI’s shortage of cash disappear.


    The cash flow sword hanging over JCI’s head arises from its obligation to redeem the 307m debentures it issued – and also listed on the JSE (code JCDD) – by January next year at a cost of more than R405m if interest is included. JCI simply doesn’t have that kind of cash; nor does it have sufficient liquid or other assets that can be sold in order to meet that obligation.


    Speculators – they clearly aren’t investors – in these debentures are also starting to have increasing doubts about whether they’ll receive the promised 125c cash per debenture by 16 January 2006. An interest payment of around 6,6c is also payable in December this year.


    There are currently plenty of sellers of these debentures at 86c. Speculators believe that, as so often in the past, the Kebbles will again pull a very big rabbit out of a very small hat and they can now buy the debentures for 86c and earn no less than 50% over just on six months.


    For investors who still own some of these debentures and can’t afford to lose their money it would be best to sell to one of the few buyers prepared to pay 80c.


    A return of 100%/year is wonderful, but in the case of JCI even the possibility of that return wouldn’t make up for the risk involved.

  • Aus MINING WEEKLY vom 11.08.05



    Pressure-reducing valves delivered to Aussie gold-mine
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Johannesburg-based engineering company Ainsworth Engineering recently delivered model 80 pressure-reducing valves and in-line fabricated strainers to its agent for an Australian gold-mine.


    Company GM Cor Bezem tells Mining Weekly in an exclusive interview that the valves were used for installation into a skid-mounted pressure-control system sold to a new gold-mine in Western Australia.


    “The systems were installed during February this year,” he says.


    In addition to this, the company will soon be visiting the site to commission the installed systems.


    “These valves basically reduce high incoming pressure, ensuring a manageable water-supply service.” Ainsworth has supplied 50-bar and 100-bar in-line pressure-reducing valves in sizes from 25 mm to 80 mm and gas-loaded pressure-relief valves, ensuring that no high pressures pass through to a lower-rated pipework in the haulage.


    “These systems are unique, incorporating automatic low-flow control-valve operations, preventing damage to the large-bore control valves,” he continues.


    In this regard, the valves are used for normal production demand.


    However, when off-peak demand is reduced to low flows, damage is caused by cavitation, manifesting itself in the larger valves.


    Bezem says that the patented in-line fabricated strainers were supplied, preventing the ingress of debris into the control valves, which could cause a reduction in flow capacity.


    This is the second set of pressure- reducing systems supplied to the Australian mine by Ainsworth.


    Further, the company has supplied such valves to AngloGold Ashanti’s South African mine, completing and manufacturing a dual-role system.


    “We have also supplied these valves to Anglo Platinum mines in Rustenburg,” Bezem explains.


    Ainsworth is said to be an important supplier to mines and other industries, which makes use of application-specific valves.


    “With the introduction of the resilient seal-valve range, we can offer a complete range of valves for slurry, plants and water industries,” he says.


    In other developments, Ainsworth has introduced a new ‘econo-line’ range of valves, which was bought from the company’s German principal.


    Comprising a limited range of 80-mm to 200-mm-diameter valves, the product is available in both flanged and socket-end styles.


    Ainsworth has, over the last 50 years, offered an extensive range of locally-manufactured valves used predominantly in the mining industry and in civil engineering projects.


    Its products are SABS and ISO 9002- approved.


    These include the resilient seal-gate valve, the hydrant valve, the butterfly valve, the reflux valve, the ring-needle valve, the dispersion valve and the ball valve.


    According to Bezem, many Ainsworth valves manufactured in the 1940s are still in use today.


    Ainsworth is part of a 50:50 joint-venture company with Premier Valves, called United Valve Company (UVC), which was established to function as the exclusive sales and marketing outlet for the full range of Premier Valves and Ainsworth products.


    Both companies continue to exist as separate entities with each having its respective brand name, but with all valve sales being handled through UVC.

  • Ulfur,

    manchmal meint ein Posting über Ventile die

    Bergwerkstechnik in Tiefminen. Wie ein

    Erinnerungsposten.


    Jetzt geht´s über US-Kürzel GOLD und gemeint

    sind WAR, JCI, RANGE.


    Wem´s Spanisch vorkommt; einfach wegklicken.





    Aus MONEYWEB im August 05


    Randgold Resources: Expanding the Footprint
    ====================================

    Randgold Resources
    =================




    London, 5 August 2005 - In 2002, Randgold Resources completed a prefeasibility study on the Tongon Project in the Côte d’Ivoire which indicated that it had the potential to meet the company’s criteria for investment; the unrest in the country has since prevented any other field work being carried out.


    The prospect of peace has led the company to review the economics of the project. “While the gold price has increased US$100/oz since the prefeasibility study, substantial increases in diesel, steel and transport have negatively affected project economics world-wide,” says general manager, exploration and evaluation, Adrian Reynolds. “We reviewed the previous work carried out at Tongon going back to the basics of orebody modelling through to final product, applying a fair deal of conservatism. Nevertheless our total resource is slightly larger at a higher grade and a preliminary economic assessment shows that the project exceeds our company hurdle rates as well as the other parameters of our strategic filter.”


    Babacar Diouf, valuation assistant, says: “We have designed a 27 000 metre drilling programme costing approximately US$3 million which will bring both the southern and northern zones to 50m x 50m drillhole spacing within 12 months of commencement. At the same time, we will complete the other aspects of the feasibility study, with the intention of completing the final feasibility within two years of the situation in the country stabilising, after the general elections which are planned for October this year.”


    Elsewhere in Côte d’Ivoire, the company has maintained three additional permits in good standing and is reviewing data from several other prospects. Côte d’Ivoire remains a significantly underexplored Birimian terrain and all available information is being incorporated into the company’s generative Geographic Information System.


    CONTINUING TO EXPAND THE FOOTPRINT


    London, 5 August 2005 - Randgold Resources continues to deliver on its promise to expand its country exposure and project portfolio throughout the major gold belts of west and east Africa. The company’s African footprint has increased to encompass some 11 500km² and a portfolio of 141 targets in six countries. New models and ideas, both in Ghana and Burkina Faso, have led to additional permit applications being submitted, covering 8 500km² of prospective greenstone belt.


    Eight rigs have been drilling on four projects in two countries to hunt for new ounces and the deepest hole ever drilled by Randgold was completed to a down hole depth of 1 111 metres at Yalea on the Loulo project. Deep drilling at both Yalea and Loulo 0 have returned a positive underground development study which will add long-term value to the project. Additionally, exploration continues to discover further Yalea lookalike styles of mineralisation within the permit. Exploration has started on a new project, Sitakili, 21 kilometres east of Loulo which is a Tabakoto lookalike with mineralised porphyry dykes intruding folded sediments.


    In Senegal, the company has built a well-balanced resource triangle with a portfolio of quality targets in the space of two years. To date six of 35 targets have been drilled, three of which have dropped off, one is parked and two require further drilling. Work continues to advance more targets to the drill phase. A new model and strategy at Morila are driving the development of a more aggressive exploration drilling programme to hunt for further hidden orebodies.


    While on a recent trip to Tanzania to review the company’s permit portfolio which overlies Achaean-age rocks, some of the oldest rocks in the world, exploration manager Paul Harbidge and the Tanzanian team took the opportunity to trek up the 2 878 metre Ol Donyo Lengai carbonatite volcano, so active that it cannot be measured in geological time. While the aim of climbing a mountain and conducting exploration are completely different there are similarities in the successful execution of both: A strategy, leadership, teamwork, a plan and relevant and correctly applied technology. The base of a mountain can be viewed as the base of a resource triangle where risk is lower. As one progresses up the triangle and mountain it becomes more difficult and the risk increases.

  • Tambok, ich bin nicht informiert, schnappt sich denn bald Placer die Mine und haut die Kebbles damit raus ?


    Mit den Typen zusammenarbeiten ist nicht einfach.


    Hoert sich nach WAR an. :D


    Da bleibe ich lieber in RANGE mit den Hippos die mir nicht symphatisch sind ;)


    Genauso Swanepoel , der Sack ! X(


    XEX

  • Eldo, informiert bin ich auch nicht.


    Tatsache ist, daß an der JSE beide Range und JCI von

    der Notierung ausgesetzt sind. Notiert ist noch WAR

    und die steigt die letzten Tage.


    Läßt das Hippo los, weil ihm brennende Eisen

    aufs Gesäß gedrückt werden, machen WAR, JCI

    und RANGE einen Satz nach oben.


    Grüße

    Tambok

  • (Diagramm von der JCI-Homepage; aber wohl trotzdem nicht der

    allerneueste Stand.)



    Die Börsenaufsicht bemängelt es sei unklar,

    ob die Anteile Randgold-RESOURCES verpfändet sind oder nicht.


    Deshalb sind an der JSE sowohl RANGE als JCI (als Mutter (Groß-


    muttergesellschaft) ausgesetzt).


    Im Grunde ist das Wurscht. Man will nur die Kebbles peinigen

    und letztlich zum Verkaufen zwingen.




    [Blockierte Grafik: http://www.jci.co.za/images/group_structure.gif]

Schriftgröße:  A A A A A