
Nearly 99% of creditors vote in favour of plan that will allow for payment of claims. From Moneyweb.

After nearly a decade of tragedy, stalls, and litigation, Vantage Goldfields appears to be on its way out of business rescue.
Some 99% of creditors voted last week and accepted proposed amendments to business rescue plans that grant Hong Kong-based Ultra Concept majority control of the mines.
Part of the rescue plan includes payment of about R320 million in creditor claims, including nearly R32 million for former workers.
Deaths result in business rescue
Vantage’s two Mpumalanga mines, Barbrook and Lily, were placed in business rescue in 2016 after an underground pillar collapse claimed the lives of three workers.
They remain buried there awaiting the resumption of operations which will allow their bodies to be retrieved and returned to their families for burial.
The resumption of mining would also be a coup for the government as it could bring more than R1.4 billion in foreign direct investment into the mining sector.
Families of the three buried workers have maintained a vigil for more than 2 000 days outside the Lily mine gate.
Ultra Concept was the only bidder to provide a fully funded proposal for the rescue of the companies.
Business rescue practitioner Rob Devereux says the path is now cleared for Vantage to be taken out of business rescue.
‘A clear path’
Adds Neil Herrick, CEO of Arqomanzi, the largest creditor: “The creditors and affected persons, and specifically the former employees, having endured severe and sustained hardship for more than nine years, have now finally had their say.
“The adoption of the amendments to the plans on 2 June 2025 should be welcomed by all creditors and affected persons because there is now a clear path to [the] successful completion of the business rescue.
“Arqomanzi [as the largest creditor] supports the proposal of Ultra Concept Ltd and we appeal to all stakeholders to support Ultra to implement its plans, provide closure to the families and friends of Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda, and to reopen the Lily and Barbrook mines.”
All that remains is for Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe to approve the change in ownership under Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
Infuriating journey to get to this point
The rescue of Vantage was bedevilled by years of litigation, most of it between Australian-backed Vantage Goldfields and Arqomanzi, which entered the picture when it purchased Standard Bank’s loan claims against Vantage, making it the largest creditor.
Vantage contested its rival’s creditor claims, but the Supreme Court of Appeal and then the Constitutional Court found in favour of Arqomanzi.
Then, in 2023, Vantage asked the Johannesburg High Court to order the implementation of a 2018 business rescue plan that would effectively exclude Arqomanzi as a creditor.
That, too, was rejected by the court.
It’s been an infuriating journey for creditors and former employees, repeatedly frustrated by seemingly unnecessary court cases.
Political parties such as ActionSA as well as trade unions have been outraged by the drawn-out litigation that has delayed the reopening of the mines.
Another court case looms
It seems Vantage cannot get itself out of the courtrooms.
Two creditors, Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC) and Train the Nation & Associates (TNN), brought a liquidation application against the three companies under business rescue – Vantage Goldfields, Barbrook Mines, and Makonjwaan Imperial Mining Company.
Under the business rescue plan, SSC will receive its full claim of R27 million, while Train the Nation (as a pre-commencement funder) will receive 30c in the rand.
Devereux says there is little merit to the application to liquidate the companies given the overwhelming adoption of the business rescue plan that will see creditors being paid roughly R320 million, with former employees getting 100c in the rand.
Support for revival crucial
SSC was formerly in the running to acquire Vantage but was unable to show proof of funds.
Adds Herrick: “SSC appears to have an ulterior motive for persisting with its liquidation application which, if it succeeds, would deliver a devastating outcome for all creditors and affected persons, including for SSC itself.
“SSC and TTN should immediately withdraw the liquidation application and state their support for the revival of the Lily and Barbrook mines.”