Mupane Gold Mine goes on sale
Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday April 22, 2025 09:29
Mupane's sale comes as gold prices trend at record highs due to the metal's status as a safe haven against the disruptions caused by the United States' planned global trade tariffs.
Mupane ceased operations in March 2024, two years after being acquired by citizen majority-led company, Hawks Mining. Reports at the time indicated that the mine was experiencing serious cash flow problems and had retrenched all employees. The Botswana Mineworkers Union (BMWU) estimates that workers are owed P49.1 million in unpaid salaries, terminal benefits, and retrenchment packages.
In a notice seen by BusinessWeek, auctioneers commissioned by the mine’s liquidator said prospective bidders would have to pay two separate, non-refundable amounts of P10,000 each to obtain access to the data room and the rights to conduct a due diligence on the site, ahead of the closure of the bidding period.
Bidding results will be known by June 25 and the conclusion of agreements for assets will be done by July 25.
According to the auctioneers, Mupane’s assets include four mining licences, a processing plant with crushing, grinding, flotation and thickening capabilities, as well as access to water and electricity.
“The mining operations were conducted by contract miners and therefore no mobile mining equipment is on site,” the auctioneers said in a public notice.
Mupane’s measured resources reach up to 530,000 tonnes in some mining licences, with grades of up to three grammes per tonne in some deposits. The mine also features a tailings deposit which when processed could yield 103,160 Troy ounces.
From its official discovery in 1998, the country’s sole gold mine has changed ownership three times. Mupane represented the transformation of gold mining activities in the country from the single pit-based, rudimentary and stop-start efforts of the past century, to an integrated, commercial operation.
Mupane’s ownership changed from initial owner Gallery Gold to IAMGOLD in 2005 and in August 2011, to Galane Gold. In 2022, Galane Gold announced its intention to sell Mupane to Hawks Mining for an undisclosed amount.
During the last changeover in ownership, the BMWU appealed the Competition and Consumer Authority’s (CCA) approval of the sale, citing their concerns that Mupane’s new owners had not clearly committed to taking over health obligations and issues amongst workers caused by the dust emanating from the mining process. In addition, the BMWU, which had raised health and safety issues at the mine with the previous owners, said these were yet to be resolved, with no clear commitment from the new owners.
Recently, the union said the mine’s fate had shown failures in the implementation and monitoring of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Programme (CEEP) which aims to boost the empowerment of citizens in mining.
“When the Union intervened asking pertinent issues that could have assisted Mupane directors during their negotiations with previous owners, our guidance was not heeded to,” said the union’s general secretary, Mbiganyi Gaekgotswe at a recent briefing. “The government and its institutions simply ignored our warnings. “Mupane Gold Mine’s failure is indicative of the glaring gaps in the implementation and monitoring of CEEP. “Further, economic transformation requires a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder approach inclusive of the union.”
The BMWU is proposing a business rescue scheme for Mupane which would include “a write off of liabilities especially those to government or conversion of liabilities into equity”.
The mine’s creditors are believed to include government and related entities such as the BURS, Botswana Power Corporation, and Water Utilities Corporation.