Veteran mining entrepreneur Peter Skeat, who intends to revive the old Blyvooruitzicht gold mine near Carletonville, says South Africa's credit rating downgrade to junk has delayed the funding which he hoped would be in place by this month. The new deadline for the $100-million (about R1.3-billion) he is seeking from overseas investors is now June, he says. "But we're definitely getting the funding." After the downgrade, investors wanted him to come back with more due-diligence reporting, "to see where the rand is going, where the country is going and how badly they'll be affected", he says. Mining will begin a year after he gets his funding. He admits that trying to arrange it after the downgrade has been "hard work". "Any listed entity offshore that is associated with South Africa generates a negative perception. "They're running shy of any negative press overseas. They don't want to be seen to be doing any deals with South Africa." Because of the downgrade, massive corruption and...
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