Name and Location
De Bron-Merriespruit (DBM) gold project, Free State, South Africa.

Client
JSE- and TSX-listed Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources (Wits Gold). On December 11, 2013, it was announced that an offer to acquire the entire shareholding in Wits Gold had been made by JSE- and NYSE-listed Sibanye Gold. The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of March 2014, subject to certain approvals and conditions being satisfied, after which Wits Gold will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sibanye.

Project Description
The DBM project area comprises a triangular block measuring 22 km² and is located between the main Welkom goldfield to the north and the Beatrix and Joel gold mines to the south, which are operated by Sibanye Gold and Harmony respectively.

Within the project area, four gold-bearing conglomerates are developed. These consist of the Beatrix, Kalkoenkrans, B and Leader reefs, all of which occur at the relatively shallow depths of between 480 m and 1 250 m below surface.

The results of a prefeasibility study (PFS) on the project, released in June 2012, delineated a probable gold reserve of 23.5-million tonnes at a grade of 4.1 g/t gold (3.1-million ounces), which is contained within that portion of the resource at DBM that occurs at depths shallower than 1 000 m (the orebody starts at a depth of 480 m), and which contains an indicated mineral resource of 26.7-million tonnes at 5.8 g/t gold (4.99-million ounces).

According to the PFS, DBM will be a shallow underground mine, comprising a planned twin-shaft system to 660 m, with average gold production expected to be 200 000 oz/y over an 18-year life-of-mine. Production is expected to peak at 246 777 oz at 5.5 g/t during year nine and first gold production is expected 47 months after shaft sinking has begun.

Value
Peak capital funding is estimated at R2.37-billion.

Duration
Mine production is targeted for 2018.

Latest Developments
Following the completion of the PFS on time and within budget, Royal HaskoningDHV (formerly Turgis Consulting) and MDM Engineering were appointed in August 2012 to complete the final feasibility study at the DBM project.

Royal HaskoningDHV is responsible for the detailed engineering and mine designs, while MDM Engineering will focus on the metallurgical plant and related design aspects.

The detailed study was expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2013; however, this has been delayed to accommodate the implementation of the acquisition of Southgold Exploration, which owns the Burnstone gold mine, and is only expected to be released during the first quarter of 2014. However, pending the successful completion of the acquisition by Sibanye, certain synergies between the DBM project and the adjacent operations of Sibanye could be investigated to enhance the economics of mining the DBM project and other advanced projects held by Wits Gold.

The feasibility study will further refine certain aspects identified in the PFS that will aim to improve mining efficiencies by introducing safer, semimechanised mining equipment and down-dip mining methodologies.

The PFS, using the economic parameters at the time, showed that the semimechanised option increased the internal rate of return to 30.9% and the pretax net present value to R10.2-billion (5%).

In addition, further upside exists by the study investigating the inclusion, through additional drilling, of the existing shallow inferred resources of 5.97-million tonnes at 5.7 g/t of gold that is readily mineable from the current mine design.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Geosearch and Turnstone Drilling (drilling contractors); SGS Laboratories (assay analysis); GCS (environmental-impact assessment and related studies); Royal HaskoningDHV, formerly Turgis Consulting, which also completed the scoping study and PFS at the DBM project (detailed engineering and mine designs) and MDM Engineering (metallurgical plant and related design aspects).

On Budget and on Time?
The PFS was completed on budget and on time. The submission of the bankable feasibility study was postponed from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year, and will also depend on the successful acquisition by Sibanye.

Contact Details for Project Information
Wits Gold corporate affairs executive Hethen Hira, tel +27 11 832 1749, fax +27 11 838 3208 or email hethenh@witsgold.com.
Royal HaskoningDHV (Turgis Consulting), tel +27 11 476 2279.
MDM Engineering, tel +27 11 993 4300, fax +27 11 886 9306 or email info@mdm-engineering.com.
Geosearch, tel +27 11 397 3880, fax +27 11 397 6011 or email mail@geosearchgroup.com.
Turnstone Drilling, tel +27 18 771 2226 or fax +27 18 771 2114.
SGS Laboratories, tel +27 11 680 3466 or fax +27 11 433 3654.
GCS, tel +2711 803 5726, fax +27 11 803 5745 or email info@gcs-sa.biz.