Goliath Gold, the new gold-focused development company, indicated on Friday that it was no longer interested in acquiring any of Pamodzi Gold's mines. The company, which issued a cautionary announcement at the end of May, was believed to be in discussions over the acquisition of Pamodzi Gold's East Rand operations after Aurora Empowerment Systems had been removed as preferred bidders and managers of the East Rand and Orkney operations. Withdrawing the cautionary, the company said "discussions have been terminated". While the sticking point was expected to be the price, it is believed that talks did not even get that far. The price will, however, be a huge deterrent to any potential new buyer. At the time Aurora was named the preferred bidder for the operations in late 2009 when Pamodzi went into liquidation, the embattled empowerment company was said to be paying 215 million rand for Orkney and 390 million rand for Grootvlei, with plans to inject at least 150 million rand into the mines. But since Aurora took over management of the operations the shafts have been looted and assets have been stripped from the mines. Estimates put the recapitalisation of the mines at close to 500 million rand. This would affect any price offered for the assets. Goliath Gold was spun out of Gold One (GDO) late last year. The company focuses on deeper, longer-term assets, while Gold One, which holds a 74% stake in Goliath Gold, is focused on shallower deposits. Until now its focus has been on exploiting the Megamine assets, which are located east of Johannesburg, comprising the operating Sub Nigel mine and the Vlakfontein, West Vlakfontein and Spaarwater prospecting areas. It is because of this focus on assets in and around Johannesburg that Goliath was interested in bidding for the East Rand assets.

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