Mining magnate Mzi Khumalo's company in London was liquidated last month by a British court over undisclosed debts.
The South African is the founder and chair of Metallon Corp, the largest gold producer in Zimbabwe, with four mines.
Gold & General, the London company Khumalo founded in 2015, was meant to lead an African expansion, and was understood to have its eye on the Lake Victoria region in Tanzania and four exploration sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Its winding-up was ordered after a court application under the Insolvency Act by the UK tax agency, HM Revenue and Customs.
According to the UK company registry, the revenue service has filed a petition to have Metallon wound up. In January, American Express Services Europe also filed a petition for the liquidation of Metallon. Hearings for both applications are pending.
The tax liabilities of Gold & General and Metallon are unclear. The address of both companies is given in the court papers as 107 Cheapside, London. The directors of Gold & General are Khumalo and Tulani Sikwila, who is also the financial director of Metallon. Salma Seetaroo and Graham Cowan have resigned as directors.
The liquidation of Gold & General reflects the crumbling of Khumalo's mining empire, which has interests in Johannesburg, London and Harare.Earlier this month, mine unions filed an application at the high court in Harare for two mines, Shamva and Mazowe, to be placed under business rescue.The company owes $192.7m, most of it - $189m - in the RTGS local currency, said Metallon spokesperson Klara Kaczmarek."At the current exchange rate of RTGS$3.8:US$1, that converts to approximately US$49.7m. However, the unofficial rate in Zimbabwe is RTGS$5:US$1 so the debt position is even lower."Metallon is also owed US$60m by the Zimbabwe central bank for gold deliveries," she said...