Vedanta – The Black Mountain Mining Blowout

Author: Viceroy Research Published on: August 18, 2025 Published in: Vedanta (NSE:VEDL)

August 18, 2025 – Vedanta Resources Limited (VRL) carries its Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operations on its books at over $1b, a valuation built on the fiction of project completion and operational viability.

Our on-the-ground investigation and financial analysis reveal the asset is financially distressed, operationally mismanaged, and embroiled in a severe labor crisis.

Execution Incompetence or Capex Fraud? BMM has spent $566m in capex over 4 years on projects originally budgeted for ~$500m, yet they remain years from completion.

Endless Project Delays: BMM’s expansion projects are systematically delayed, along with substantially every other project in VEDL’s pipe-dream pipeline.

Commercial Insolvency: BMM is facing a formal winding-up petition filed by a major contractor who claims the Company is commercially insolvent and unable to pay its debts.

Promotion of Failed Leadership: VRL CEO Deshnee Naidoo, now the face of VRL and VEDL to investors, is the same executive who previously oversaw the operational disasters at VZI, including a fatality at BMM and the slope collapse that shuttered the Skorpion mine.

Corporate Colonialism and Labor Crisis: South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has accused VRL of “modern-day corporate colonialism” and “economic sabotage” over a “draconian” plan to outsource its workforce. VRL’s plan triggered mass protests and threatens to strip workers of their housing, pensions, and benefits.

ESG: While VRL presents itself as an ESG champion, on-the-ground investigations and independent verification of its claims reveal a starkly different reality.

Viceroy believes that any value that could be derived from BMM/Gamsberg will not be via Vedanta. BMM appears to be one of the most significant failures in VEDL’s portfolio. VEDL has failed its shareholders, bondholders, employees, the South African government and its mining authority, the local community, and the environment.

Viceroy would like to thank the BMM workers and NUM representatives who took the time to speak with our team.

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