Johannesburg — THE unbundling of Mvelaphanda Resources (Mvela) has been pushed back from the end of this year to about May next year after an arbitration process with Khumama Platinum failed to reach resolution last week.

Mvela has been instructed by the JSE to change its form because it is a pyramid structure that cannot be listed on the bourse. It was given to the end of this year.

Mvela has notified the JSE of the lack of progress in arbitration and the JSE has eased up on the date for unbundling. The next arbitration hearing was set for October and November.

"The JSE has been accommodating and understanding. They know what our strategy is. They've just asked to be kept informed of what's going on," said Mvela executive commercial manager James Wellsted, who estimated that the unbundling could happen in April or May.

Mvela's plans to return its assets to its shareholders, which comprise Lazarus Zim's Afripalm Resources with 19% and Mvelaphanda Holdings with 23%, have been delayed by the dispute with Khumama. Mvela holds stakes in Gold Fields , Northam Platinum and 21% in Trans Hex.

Speculation around the timing of the unbundling was thought to be driven in part by the need of Mr Zim to raise cash to settle debt.

It may be that pressure has come off Mr Zim somewhat.

Anglo Platinum recorded an outflow of R273m in the first half of this year to Newshelf 848, a company owned by Afripalm.

A note in Anglo Platinum 's interim report said the company had agreed to guarantee bank funding of R406m to Newshelf 848 to refinance some of Afripalm's obligations. The conditions for the loan had not been met by end-June, though.

The dispute with Khumama dates back to February 2004, when Mvela bought that company's "non-binding expectation" that it could negotiate a 50-50 joint venture with Anglo Platinum on the Booysendal platinum project. The terms of the purchase were R80m in cash and 9 ,275- million Mvela shares valued at about R230m.

If the value of the project, based on a bankable feasibility study by Anglo Platinum, topped R600m, then Mvela and Khumama would split the excess and Mvela would pay Khumama the value in discounted shares.

Mvela tried to negotiate a joint venture with Anglo Platinum, but the Booysendal project was not a priority for the platinum company.

Mvela then engineered a deal whereby it bought 100% of Booysendal and Anglo Platinum's stake in Northam for R4bn.

Mvela then sold the Booysendal project and its 100-million ounces of platinum group metal resources to Northam in exchange for 121-million Northam shares, giving it 63% of the platinum company.