Potential Lily Mine investors: Red tape hampers efforts to resume operations

Potential investors at Lily Mine near Barberton, in Mpumalanga, said efforts to resume operations are still being hampered by red tape.

The gold mine shut its doors in 2016 and went under business rescue after a structural collapse that claimed three lives.

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The remains of Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda remain underground after the lamp room they were working in sank during the mine collapse.

Friday marks 10 years since the tragedy.

There have been repeated attempts to re-open the Lily gold mine, which at its prime, employed more than 1,000 people.

The process to exit business rescue has been stalled by continuous litigation between owners Vantage Goldfields and some creditors.

Fred Arendse, the CEO of Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment, the corporation vying to revive Lily Mine had this to say about the stalled process.

“And the sad part is the gold price is incredibly high at the moment, you know. Now imagine if the mine was in production from 2019. We would have commemorated in a much [more] positive way today, you know, celebrating the memory of our three colleagues.”

The mine’s largest creditor is currently mining investment company Arqomanzi, which purchased Standard Bank’s loan claims against Vantage.