Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources Ltd. offered Great Basin Gold Ltd.'s Burnstone mine a nominal ZAR100 equivalent to US$10 for its Southgold unit. Wits Gold explored metals in Africa. Its offer would allow it to acquire its first bullion-producing asset.

Great Basin Gold's Southgold unit currently owns the mine of Balfour in Mpumalanga province. The company said the unit started business-rescue measures last year. Wits Gold proposed to advance about ZAR 950 million though a stockholder loan at a 400 basis points. This was also equivalent to 4% points over Johannesburg interbank's agreed-rate for three months. Yesterday, the company's rate was 5.14%.

"Wits Gold plans to fund the transaction through a combination of debt and equity, depending on the market conditions at the time," an external spokeswoman for the company with Russell and Associates, Pam Wolstenholme, stated through an e-mailed answer to querries.

The offer for Southgold was still dependent on the restructuring process for its liabilities. The said accountabilities were incurred because of debt to shareholders and South African Revenue Services.