JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- and NYSE-listed mining major Sibanye’s gold mineral reserves increased by 9% to 31-million ounces for the period ended December 31, 2015.
This was the third consecutive yearly increase in gold mineral reserves, despite a depletion of 1.6-million ounces from mining activities during 2015 .
Uranium mineral reserves for the group increased by 11% to 113.8-million pounds, while gold mineral reserves at its underground operations increased by 0.7-million ounces to 20.2-million ounces, following the improvement of two significant underground growth projects at its Beatrix mine, in the Free State, and its Driefontein mine, in Carltonville.
The continued assessment of previously unmined areas for safe, economic extraction resulted in an additional 1.1-million ounces of gold mineral reserves and the secondary reef exploration programme at the Kloof and Driefontein mines, which contributed an additional 0.4-million to gold mineral reserves.
A maiden gold mineral reserve of 1.8-million ounces had been declared at the Burnstone mine, in Johannesburg, following completion of the detailed feasibility study and the subsequent start of the project development phase.
Gold mineral reserves were declared at R30 000/kg and gold mineral resources at R470 000/kg – a 10% premium. This was substantially lower than the average rand/gold price for the year to date.