The miner in November 2019 struck an agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seriti Resources Holdings, to divest of the South African Energy Coal assets for R100-million.

The purchase price also included a deferred consideration component where South32 would receive 49% of the free cash flow generated by the assets for a period starting at the end of March 2024, and capped at R1.5-billion a year.

South32 on Monday said that work is progressing between the company, Seriti and State-owned energy provider Eskom to finalise arrangements that would underpin the sustainability of the South African Energy Coal business under the ownership of Seriti, and would allow for the satisfaction of the final material conditions to the transaction.