Mantengu mining delays worker payments amid cash flow concerns

Workers at Langpan Mining have been forced to absorb an unexpected financial blow after the business failed to pay January wages at month-end, raising questions about cash flow at both the mining operation and its parent company, JSE-listed Mantengu Mining.

According to information received by BR, employees were only formally notified on January 31 that their salaries would not be paid, leaving many scrambling to stretch their rands further to cover day-to-day household costs.

Head of Mining Operations at Langpan MIne, Tiaan Oosthuizen, said in response to BR questions: "We can confirm we have experienced an HR glitch at our Langpan Mine, we have communicated with our employees, in line with the Labour Relations Act."

He said payments "have started" and would be "well within the guidelines agreed to with our employees. The employees are working with management and I can confirm that operations are ongoing," said Oostuizen.

According to information received by BR the late notice was communicated in a written letter from Langpan Mining's management, which had acknowledged that payroll had not been processed, and this had been attributed to missed production targets and insufficient revenue.

"Unfortunately, the production figures forecasted were not met… sales revenue was insufficient to cover nearly half of January's expenses, in addition to the outstanding obligations from November and December," the letter stated.

Langpan's communication stated that it expected to process all outstanding payments by February 7, 2026 and it undertook to provide a further update to employees by February 2.

The salary crisis raises broader questions about the state of Langpan's finances, especially in light of recent public disclosures. In December 2025, Mantengu Mining announced the successful commissioning of Langpan Mining's second chrome processing plant, signaling operational expansion and capital investment.

However, the contrast between commissioning a new processing facility and the inability to meet payroll obligations had fueled concern among employees and creditors about cash-flow management and financial priorities at the two organisations.

The incident unfolds against the backdrop of a dispute between Mantengu's CEO Mike Miller, and private businessman Zunaid Moti, in which Moti has raised pointed questions about Mantengu's financial position and Langpan's operational performance.While Miller has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, this latest wage payment failure is likely to intensify scrutiny of the company's internal controls and financial disclosures.

Meanwhile, Mantengu's last results for the six months to end-August 2025, which were signed off by its auditors, indicated that the comany had ample financial headroom at its disposal. Its board was satisfied that the group had sufficient resources and access to resources to continue to operate as a going concern. This was after the group reported a R42.8m interim loss versus a R3m profit a year before.

"Even though current liabilities exceed current assets, this does not impact the going concern assumption in any way. The group has access to multiple funding lines, including a share subscription facility agreement with GEM Global Yield and GEM Yield Bahamas Limited for R500 million….Only R46m of this facility has been utilised so far," the board said at the time.

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