Name of the Project
Witwatersrand Basin project (WBP).

Location
At the northern edge of the Witwatersrand basin, in the Central Rand Goldfield, immediately south-west of the City of Johannesburg, in Gauteng, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
West Wits Mining.

Project Description
A scoping study completed in August 2021 has demonstrated the WBP’s potential to be West Wits’ cornerstone project, with average steady-state production of 80 000 oz/y for 18 years and a life-of-mine (LoM) of more than 20 years. West Wits has reported a compliant resource estimate for the project of 4.28-million ounces at a grade of 4.58 g/t of gold .

The study has identified five distinct reef packages for mine development – Qala Shallows (Shallows), Main Reef (MR), Bird Reef East (BRE), Bird Reef Central (BRC) and Qala Deeps (Deeps). A definitive feasibility study (DFS) was completed on Qala Shallows in the third quarter of 2021.

The WBP has the potential to build up to a peak production rate exceeding 95 000 oz/y, with production target averages of 90 000 oz from Year 6 to 11 as production reaches steady state from the Shallows, Main Reef and BRE packages.

The study envisages estimated production from the Shallows section at 5.7-million tonnes at a run-of-mine grade of 3.4 g/t for 630 000 oz over 13 years of production, and steady-state production of about 60 000 oz/y for six years.

First production from the Shallows is expected in Year 2, with a build-up to 50 000 t a month early in Year 4.

The MR, comprising the MR and MR Leader bands, has been identified for the second stage of development and is a priority target, owing to the high recovered gold grade of 5.3 g/t.

The MR section will provide an estimated 630 000 t at 5.3 g/t gold for 105 000 oz of incremental production over Year 4 to 9 combined. Access to the MR package is planned from the existing No 6 shaft site. The next stage of feasibility for the MR will also assess the potential of continuing development from the BRE area, only

1 km to the north, as an alternative access point to MR package as a further optimisation.

Stage 3 involves the development of BRE, with Bara planning access off the Shallows decline; the mine layout provides access to the BRE through the development from the Qala shaft. Once the Shallows operation reaches an estimated depth of 150 m and nears steady-state production, a drive will be established to the BRE, with a development distance of 1 km.

BRC is accessible through the existing Circular shaft, which involves the development of the Qala infrastructure, situated about 3 km to the east. Combined with the lower recovered grade profile relative to the WBP’s other areas of development, the BRC is scheduled for development after the MR and BRC, and is also subject to further feasibility.

The Deeps area is a depth extension of the Shallows from 500 m to 1 500 m below surface, where the reef dip steepens from 40 ° at surface to 70 ° at depth. The water table floods historical mine works at about 200 m below surface. A geotechnical report supporting the scoping study found that leaving a water pillar, with a width-to-height ratio of 15:1, allows for access to unmined areas at depth, which is applicable to the Deeps’ targeted mineral resources. Production from the Deeps is scheduled to ramp up to steady-state production from Year 15 as the Shallows nears depletion. The Deeps will share infrastructure access with the Shallows and will be subject to a dedicated DFS to confirm rock support and ventilation requirements to achieve the WBP’s production schedule from Year 15.

The scoping study has used a narrow-reef breast mining method in the upper sections of the conceptual mine plan, which is the same mining method being used when the historical mine ceased in the early 2000s. This method is still being used extensively in South African gold mining.

The scoping study indicates that there is enough capacity and quality of processing in the region to enter a toll treating arrangement with one of the local process plant operators as opposed to allocating capital expenditure for the construction and operation of a process facility.

Potential Job Creation
The project has already got about 50 people on site, which is set to increase as the project advances. When an output of 50 000 t/m is attained, the company expects to have created about 600 to 700 jobs.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
West Wits Mining is the beneficiary of an unexpected gold find that will result in income being generated considerably sooner than expected.

From February 2022, West Wits Mining will turn valuable vamping material – that nobody knew was there – to account.

The vamping material escaped the attention of the DFS because entry of the dormant section of the Rand Leases and DRDGold, which closed a couple of decades ago, was still unsafe at the time.

However, that changed in November and December 2021 when a ventilation system was installed, the underground mine was made safe and the ready blasted vamping material came into view.

Grab sampling showed that the material had an average grade in line with expectations. The income generated will help to cover overhead costs, which will occur ahead of the company’s starting work on the in situ orebody in March and/or April, when it will start blasting and extract face rock.

With the mining of the vamping material and old available faces due to begin in February,  rock engineering and ventilation teams are making all efforts to identify rock conditions and ventilation requirements to ensure that the reviving operation is in a position to start taking up ore from February and/or March.

West Wits has appointed Modi Mining as its mining contractor.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Bara Consulting (scoping study) and Modi Mining (mining contract).

Contact Details for Project Information
West Wits Mining, tel +61 3 8692 9049 or email info@westwitsmining.com.