Another point to add to Drillfix's is that Mt Magnet's resource is not just made up of Hill 50, but Great Fingall, St George, Star and Big Bell minesm also.
Another question, if Hill 50 is so hard to mine and the mine "risky" as you say then why aren't Harmony cutting and running? Instead they are buying into the company that are going to run it. Harmony can ill afford to risk this at this point in time, given all their past woes, which has been reported extensively and have only been attached to their Sth African operations.
Fro Reuters:
Harmony to sell Australian operations to Monarch Thu 8 Nov 2007, 6:54 GMT
[-] Text [+] JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Harmony Gold said on Thursday it plans to sell its Mount Magnet operations for A$65 million to Australian-based junior miner Monarch Gold Mining Company.
Harmony, the world's fifth-biggest gold producer, said the Mt Magnet operations comprised a resource inventory of 2.7 million ounces of gold, tenements covering some 62,000 hectares and 166 exploration licence blocks, along with a 2.7 million tonnes-a-year capacity plant.
Harmony, which has been reviewing its operations with the aim of slashing costs, and has said it was considering selling some assets, said the Mt Magnet package includes Hill 50, Great Fingall, St George, Star and Big Bell mines.
"The sale of Mt Magnet forms part of our 2007 rationalisation strategy which considered the Western Australian assets as being non-core to this strategy," Harmony's Acting Chief Executive Graham Briggs said.
"Mt Magnet is the last of those operations to be sold. It is our intention, going forward, to focus on developing and operating our larger, long-life mines."
Briggs said at a quarterly results presentation at the end of October, that the firm intended to conduct a strategic review of its operations, rather than just a piecemeal sale of some of its assets.
The payment for the operation will be in cash, shares and a convertible note, Harmony said.
MON Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
