Buyback of Hidden Valley royalty agreement
Johannesburg. Wednesday 28 March 2007. Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (the “Company”) today announced that it had concluded negotiations with Rio Tinto Limited (“Rio Tinto”) in terms of which the parties have agreed that Harmony purchase the Rio Tinto rights under the royalty agreement, which was entered into prior to the acquisition by Harmony of the Hidden Valley and Kerimenge deposits in Papua New Guinea.
In terms of the royalty agreement Rio Tinto has the right (“royalty rights”) to receive a portion of between 2% and 3.5% of future ounces produced by the Hidden Valley mine in Papua New Guinea. The consideration payable by Harmony to Rio Tinto will be US$22.5 million settled as follows:
- 1,250,523 new ordinary shares of 50 South African cents each, to be issued as fully paid up;
- the balance of US$2.5 million payable in cash on the effective date.
The listing of the consideration shares will commence on 29 March 2007 and the agreement is effective from the day on which the consideration is settled, being the date of the allotment and issue of the consideration shares.
The rationale for the transaction is based on the fact that the cash costs per ounce of gold produced at Hidden Valley should reduce by US$13 per ounce.
The effect of the acquisition on the earnings per share and net asset value per share of Harmony for the half-year year ended 31 December 2006, assuming the acquisition had taken effect from 1 July 2006, will be insignificant.
For more details contact:
Bernard Swanepoel
Chief Executive
+27(0)83 303 9922
Amelia Soares
General Manager, Investor Relations
Tel. + 27 11 684 0146
+27(0)82 654 9241
Lizelle du Toit
Investor Relations Officer
+27(0)82 465 1244