This article re Imperial Crown Tradings mining rights win ...was of interest as, minus a very important points, the media has bundled our case with theirs together in articles...so I looked for comparisons... **************** "THE GUPTA INTERVIEW: Mining is a ?very good sector?, but learning curve ALLAN SECCOMBE Published: 2011/03/04 06:44:05 AM
THE Gupta family feels it is earning its stripes in the mining business and is now starting to look for growth, says Ajay Gupta, the eldest of the brothers in the Gupta business empire. Mr Gupta and his mother decided in about 2006 that the family-held Sahara Computers would no longer tender for government business, to avoid embarrassing friends such as President Jacob Zuma and others in the Cabinet. The mining business beckoned the Guptas after Ajay Gupta met Lazarus Zim at a function and the decision was taken to invest in Mr Zim?s resources business, Afripalm.
"A few years later we realised it was a very good sector and we must look at it, but we don?t know anything about it. We must learn this sector," says Mr Gupta.
"For learning purposes we bought a contract mining and services company in 2005-06," he says. This was JIC Mining Services that had been owned by Tokyo Sexwale?s Mvelaphanda .
"We go there, our kids go there. We are learning mining and understanding it and now we want to be doing mining." The Guptas own a 74% stake in Shiva Uranium via their Oakbay Resources & Energy company. The rest is held via a consortium of nine groups, including a company of Mr Zim?s and Mabengela Investments, which has Rajesh Gupta and Duduzane Zuma as directors. These two companies own 60% of Islandsite Investments 255, which owns the remainder of Shiva.
Shiva comprises the gold and uranium mine formerly called Dominion, which Toroto- and JSE-listed Uranium One sold after it mothballed the operation because it was losing money. Family, friends and offshore investors have injected capital into Shiva, while the Industrial Development Corporation has invested R250m, bringing the total funding of the project to between R700m and R800m, Mr Gupta says. The mine now employs 2000 people.
JIC is 61% held by Oakbay, managed by Jagdish Parekh, who controls half of Imperial Crown Trading 289 which is embroiled in a legal battle with Kumba Iron Ore over the ownership of a disputed portion of Sishen Iron Ore mine that the state has granted to ICT. Mr Gupta says: "ICT is nothing to do with us." Mr Parekh holds half of Imperial Crown Trading via his wholly owned Pragat Investments . The Guptas also have Tigeta Resources, which has "small" coal interests, he says.
Another family decision is not to apply for mining rights. Everything in the Gupta stable came via the purchase of other companies and converting mining and prospecting titles .
The Guptas wish to add more uranium and gold to their suite of resources, and platinum and manganese."
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=136207 ******************************************** My earlier post "Miracle upon Miracle Investments a 'special purpose vehicle' that is the 104 Applicant on behalf of Bengwehyama Community...according to their website.
MUMI was registered some time ago ..10/12/07... more than 3 years ago... according to a number of official sites here:
That was quite a long time ago,imo. But if you search for some of the other Company names that are involved in the spate of Mining right controversies on the above site...that 07 gazette some come up too. I wonder if all companies are registered around the same time in SA? sort of like racehorses birthdays? because..
next to Bengwenyama special purpose vehicle, Miracle upon Miracle Investments (registered on the 10/12/07) is a Pacific Breeze Trading 691..registered 11/12/07 and a PBT 673 is mentioned here...
http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACT/2009/51.html
which also shows me that mergers have to go before a competition tribunal...which is yet another thing that I didnt know.
One of the very few records of Bengs' Atlantic Nominees was on a site ....I'll have to find again to make that point... Was there a regulatory change/timeframe/lurk/gap or something that caused this coincidental group of registrations?
NKP Price at posting:
45.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
