Pretoria - Listed Labat has agreed to acquire 51 percent of the issued share capital of Ormin Coal for R16 million.Explaining the rationale for the acquisition, Labat said on Monday that it was growing its existing logistics business and saw major synergies between the two businesses because of the transport requirements of Ormin to transfer the finished product to markets either locally or to ports. Labat, which wants to become a leading transport and logistics company in sub-Saharan Africa, said it would be the dedicated logistics contractor for all Ormin products.
The company said it had also identified the beneficiation of existing mined resources as a major opportunity and a mechanism for community upliftment, small business development and job creation at community level.
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It saw Ormin as an ideal partner for such a venture and had identified various other above ground opportunities to exploit together.
Labat added that Ormin had secured rights to above ground tailings of various minerals and currently supplied chrome product to identified markets, but planned to expand the operations to other minerals this year.
It said Ormin had obtained rights to an estimated 2 million tons of above ground minerals through rental and royalty agreements and simultaneously secured markets for the products both locally and overseas.
“Ormin is now ready to commence operations on a full time basis,” it said.