JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold exploration and development company Goliath Gold was “successfully closing” the Pamodzi Gold East Rand transaction and aimed to have all relevant prospecting approvals by July.

The JSE-listed firm last year bought the underground deposits of Grootvlei, Consolidated Modderfontein and Nigel Gold, as well as some surface assets, from the joint provisional liquidators of Pamodzi Gold East Rand Proprietary for R70-million.

“The prospecting rights for which Goliath Gold has applied have been formally accepted by the Department of Mineral Resources and it is expected that the approval process will be completed by July 2013,” CEO Richard Stewart said in a statement.

This would enable the company access to explore “one of the largest single brownfield exploration properties remaining in the Witwatersrand basin”.

Goliath Gold would pay R5-million for the mining assets’ historical mining and technical data.

Meanwhile, Goliath reported that the planned exploration of its Megamine project had revealed mineral resources estimated at 12.19-million ounces of gold, including 82.07-million tons at a grading of 4.62 g/t.

The region held indicated mineral resources of 3.64-million ounces of gold, including 25.62-million tons grading at 4.42 g/t, and inferred mineral resources of 8.56-million ounces, including 56.45-million tons at 4.72 g/t.

The Megamine resource included the up-dip Wit Nigel portion of the project for the first time.

Stewart said that about 3.6-million ounces of the total estimated mineral resource base occur at depths shallower than 1 000 m below surface – with an estimated 1.5-million of these ounces at depths shallower than 500 m.

“The 2013 focus at the Megamine project will be on enhancing the value of the substantial mineral resource base by advancing selected targets through additional drilling and the application of economic studies to ultimately define mineable mineral reserves,” he said.