Charlotte Mathews
8 January 2009
Johannesburg — MIRANDA Minerals Holdings' share price jumped 4% to 80c on the JSE yesterday after the company announced it had received its first mining right and would be able to start generating revenue within 18 months.
Although the shares are way below the peak of 298c touched late last year, chairman Alan Thompson said in the group's latest annual report that the price was linked to Miranda's coal exposure and the outlook for coal prices remained strong locally and internationally.
The Sesikhona mining permit, granted over four coal-bearing properties in KwaZulu-Natal's Dannhauser district, is the first mining right Miranda has received. The company is exploring a portfolio of coal, diamond, gold and base minerals properties in SA. Miranda owns 88% in Sesikhona properties, with the Kliprand local community owning the other 12%.
The owners have agreed that the coal deposit will be mined by Ilhosi Project Mining, which will pay them a royalty of R50 per ton of coal mined.
In the first phase of development, a coal resource of about 5,4-million tons will be mined using open-cast methods at a rate of 30000 to 50000 tons a month, generating Miranda up to about R2,2m in revenue for its portion. Ilhosi will also make an immediate upfront payment of R5m to Sesikhona, in addition to the R1m already paid.
In the year to August, Miranda made R372000 in revenue from services rather than from mining and posted a headline loss of 4,5c a share, up from a previous annual loss of 1c a share.
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