Great Basin Gold Ltd. (fka GBGLF)

[goldenpolarbear]

« Great Basin Gold– Hollister Mine (Nevada), Burnstone Mine (South Africa)... »

« ...Key Points for Investors and Other Stakeholders:

• Great Basin Gold Ltd. (“GBG”), was a publicly-traded international mining company engaged in the exploration, development and operation of gold properties. It operated through 22 subsidiary companies that reported through consolidated statements. A number of the subsidiaries were in- corporated and based in known tax shelters (British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus).

• The company entered receivership in 2013, while Ronald Thiessen was still Chairman of the Board, and Scott Coughlan was still a Director. From 1996 through 2007, the company was under HDI control, based on a contract dated December 31, 1997. HDI ceased to be a “related party” after 2007.

• Philip Kotze was also a company director from 2011 until 2013, and was the President and CEO of HDI-subsidiary Atlatsa from 2008 to 2011. He later bought the HDI Burnstone Mine out of the liquidation proceedings in 2013.

• Subsequently, Thiessen and Coughlan were defendants in civil proceedings filed in British Co- lumbia and Nevada by Credit Suisse AG, GBG’s largest creditor. In February-March 2011, prior to GBG’s bankruptcy, the company borrowed US$70 million (the “Hollister Facility’) from Credit Suisse to finance mining operations at its Hollister gold mine in Nevada. In 2012, follow- ing the bankruptcy filing, Credit Suisse executed a US$35 million debtor-in-possession financing facility (the “Canadian DIP Facility”) connected to the Canadian bankruptcy filing, which was subsequently increased to US$51 million in 2013. Credit Suisse filed suit in Nevada alleging that the defendants had provided information, at the time of the Hollister Facility, stating that the life of the Hollister Mine was estimated at over eight years, the proven and probable reserves at the mine were estimated to be 907,000 Au(eqv) oz, and the net present value of the mine was C$236 million. Following the bankruptcy proceeding, however, the Hollister mine was reported to have “only a three-year life of mine and proven and probable mineral reserves of 187,000 Au(eqv) oz.” When the mine was sold in 2013, it was sold “for only US$15 million and a small percentage of future profits.” Credit Suisse alleged “negligent misrepresentation, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty” on the part of the defendants. The Nevada proceedings were settled in July, 2017. 132 De- tails of the settlement were not

• Thiessen and Coughlan were also defendants in a related civil proceeding filed in British Colum- bia in 2014 by Linden Advisors LP, Crystalline Management Inc. and Wolverine Asset Manage- ment, LLC. The plaintiffs were investors in debentures issued by GBG in 2009, who alleged that the defendants made material misrepresentations concerning GBG’s financial and liquidity position in a GBG prospectus related to the debenture issue. After counterclaims and responses filed by both sides, this proceeding was settled and dismissed in December 2016, with neither party taking anything from the other.

• In May 2013, the Hollister Mine was sold at auction for US$15 million by Waterton Global Re- source Management. In Q3, 2016, Waterton shut it down. Hollister was again sold, to Rimrock Gold, which then sold it to Klondex for $80 million and some shares and warrants in Klondex. Franco-Nevada holds a 3-5% NSR on the property (subject to gold price).

• In 2013 in South Africa, at the Burnstone Mine, GBG subsidiary Southgold filed for bankruptcy protection. The company’s debt exceeded US$400 million (largely owing to Credit Suisse and Standard Bank). Southgold brought in a private business rescue practitioner- Peter Steen, who sold the mine to Philip Kotze’s Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources (“Wits”) for $7.25 million133; Wits also assumed the company debt. However, the plan cut the debt to $177.5 million and required Wits to bring the mine back into operation within three years. The rescue plan was announced in July 2013.134 Wits could not meet its obligations either, and, by the end of the year, the entire company had been bought by Sibanye for less than $40 million... »

https://miningwatch.ca/sites/default/files/hdi_investor_report.pdf

https://www.northerndynastyminerals.com/pebble-project/project-overview/

« ...Investors are mad with the state of play at Great Basin Gold Ltd., an international gold mining company with mines in Nevada and South Africa that is now in bankruptcy protection.

And there’s a lot at stake given that through RBC Capital Markets, Great Basin raised $57.5-million of equity capital just over six months back from a unit offering at $0.75 per unit. It also raised $86.3-million of equity — at $2.55 a share — in February 2011. One year back, again through RBC, it raised $126.5-million from the sale of five-year 8% convertible debentures.

And their rage is directly proportional to how fast developments have changed at the company whose shares are listed in Canada, the U.S. and South Africa.

Adding to the frustration is that battles have emerged between classes of security holders brought on by the demands of the providers of debtor in possession financing and the collateral holders of the convertible debentures thought they enjoyed. (One holder said that he expects, at best, to receive $0.25 on the dollar.) And because Great Basin is obligated to pay the legal costs of the lenders and the holders of the convertibles, about $10-million will be drained. Indeed in its latest update, issued one week back, Great Basin said that the DIP loan “remains in technical default.”

http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/the-mess-at-great-basin-gold

Really? https://www.sibanyestillwater.com/our-business/southern-africa/projects/burnstone/history