Metals One (MET1 ) has moved one step closer to securing a significant stake in a major South African gold opportunity, following the calling of a creditor meeting by the Business Rescue Practitioner in regard to the assets of Vantage Gold.
Lions Bay Resources, a company partially owned by Metals One, has put forward a plan to take the Vantage Gold assets out of Business Rescue. At present, no other plans have been presented.
Lions Bay Resources is 47.5%-owned by Lions Bay Capital, which is in turn 19.1%-owned by Metals One. In addition, upon imminent conversion of convertible loan notes, Metals One will own 30% of Lions Bay Resources itself. Metals One also has a C$10 million loan facility with Lions Bay Resources local vehicle Lions Bay Investments.
The creditor meeting is due to be held on 9th April 2026. At the meeting a vote will be held in regard to the rescue plan proposed by Lions Bay Resources.
Several major creditors have already indicated support, marking a key breakthrough in Lions Bay’s long-running effort to acquire the Vantage assets.
The Vantage assets entered Business Rescue after the 2016 Lily mine collapse. They are located in the Barberton region and hold a historical resource inventory of 4.5 million ounces of gold, a central metallurgical complex and extensive underground development.
Lions Bay Resources has made a US$40 million offer for the Vantage assets, depositing US$6 million already, committing another US$4 million before the meeting, and planning to place the remaining US$30 million in escrow in London pending regulatory approval.
Lions Bay is evaluating multiple funding options to enable it to complete the deal, including debt, equity, or a public listing on a major exchange.
Lions Bay is also expected shortly to settle the outstanding US$1.36 million balance required to acquire a cogeneration plant which may be reconfigured to include a gold concentrate roasting complex.
The plant has an independently assessed replacement value of US$39.6 million.
"The implementation of LBR's strategy to create a vertically integrated gold business in South Africa is progressing well, with several major creditors having indicated their support for LBR's plan for the Vantage Assets,” said Daniel Maling, managing director of Metals One.
“The acquisition of the Vantage assets is a core component of this strategy, with the mines potentially benefiting from cheap power from LBR's cogeneration plant and, in the longer term, its use as a gold concentrate roasting complex. Against the backdrop of the upcoming creditor meeting, LBR is now progressing term sheets with several parties regarding project level financing for the remaining commitments in respect of the acquisition, and we look forward to providing a further update in due course."
Find out more in our interview with John Byrne of Lions Bay Capital
View from Vox
This is a complex deal, but if Metals One and Lions Bay can pull it off – and it looks like they well might – it will be transformative for both companies. Lions Bay chief John Byrne reckons that the Vantage assets could go to production of 60,000 ounces of gold per year in fairly quick time, and with 4.5 million ounces of gold in historic resource, there’s ample scope for expanding that number in the longer-term. The gold price has been jumping around a bit lately, but even so, this is a historic opportunity, and one that Metals One is looking to seize with both hands.