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Michael Busbridge
West Wits Mining has added 2.2 million ounces of gold to its existing mineral resource following the grant of a key tenement and lowering cut-off grades at the company’s flagship Qala Shallows underground gold mine in South Africa’s world-class Witwatersrand Basin.
While the newly granted tenement boosted the inventory by 1.2 million ounces grading 4.38 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, a further 1 million ounces came from a reduction in the cut-off grade of its global resource from 2g/t to 1.24g/t gold. This reduction resulted from a material uplift in the underlying gold price assumption from US$1500 (A$2142) to US$2850 (A$4071) per ounce.
The upgrade has increased the total resource by 44 per cent to a whopping 7.24 million ounces grading 4g/t gold. The company says that, with 50 per cent of the global resource now in the measured and indicated categories, mine planning and development options are starting to firm up.
Measured and indicated resource now stands at 29.6 million tonnes grading 4.21g/t gold for 4.01 million ounces gold, with the balance of 3.23 million ounces in the inferred class.
‘West Wits is in a strong position to advance Qala Shallows to steady-state production with first gold pour scheduled for March.’
West Wits Mining chief operating officer Rudi Dyesel
The company unveiled its money shot definitive feasibility study (DFS) in 2025, reporting an ore reserve of 384,000 ounces of gold. Together with its inferred resource, the study forecast total production of 944,000 ounces over a 17-year mine life.
The DFS pointed to a net present value of US$500 million (A$713 million) and an internal rate of return of 81 per cent, presenting the kind of financials that most junior miners can only dream of.
West Wits Mining chief operating officer Rudi Dyesel said: “The grant of PR 10839 provides a seamless depth extension to Qala Shallows, exactly where we want future tonnes and ounces to come from. Coupled with our recently completed Institutional capital raise, West Wits is in a strong position to advance Qala Shallows to steady-state production with first gold pour scheduled for March 2026, whilst simultaneously progressing studies aimed at expanding production and mine life of this Tier-1 ore body.”
Between 2021 and 2023, West Wits stitched together an initial 5.025-million-ounce resource across its entire footprint. However, it was the Qala Shallows deposit that emerged as the standout starter mine, hosting 10.7 million tonnes at 2.98g/t for just over a million ounces, including 383,000 ounces of bankable reserves.
Adding to the mine’s credentials, Qala Shallows already has the infrastructure in place, including an adit, a decline, a shaft, and a labour force ready for use, giving West Wits a rare jump-start.
The mine re-opened in mid-October after West Wits hauled its first underground ore to surface, kicking off stockpiling ahead of toll treatment, slated for a March start, at Sibanye-Stillwater’s nearby Ezulwini plant.
The operation is forecast to pump out around 70,000 ounces of gold every year for 12 straight years, based on a conservative US$2850 (A$4071) per ounce gold price.
The Witwatersrand Basin has minted mining legends for more than a century. The gold-enriched basin is a unique world-class mining province and was home to the world’s largest known gold reserves, having produced more than 1.5 billion ounces of gold since the early 1900’s.
This 3-billion-year-old, 400 km by 60 km Archean sedimentary basin hosts deep-level mining, reaching depths of almost 4 kilometres. The basin was responsible for the foundation of Johannesburg in 1886, solidifying South Africa’s status as a global gold mining powerhouse.
West Wits now appears ready to carve out its own chapter in South African gold, reviving a storied mining legacy with modern standards, community benefit and a long-term vision.
With funding fully in place, infrastructure and a new tenement offering optionality and a longer mine life all in place, its Witwatersrand dream is set to rapidly become a reality.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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