Name of the Project
TGME underground project.

Location
Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Theta Gold Mines.

Project Description
The project aims to restart historical underground gold mines in Mpumalanga, a prolific gold-mining region.

The project is targeting the Beta, Rietfontein, Frankfort and Clewer-Dukes Hill-Morgenzon (CDM) mines.

In the base case, the project has a mine life of 12.9 years, delivering production of 1.24-million ounces of contained gold over the life-of-mine (LoM) at a processing rate of 540 000 t/y to initially recover 1.08-million ounces of gold.

The project aims to produce 30 000 t a month from the Beta mine, 15 000 t a month from the Rietfontein mine, 15 000 t a month from the Frankfort mine and 10 000 t a month to 20 000 t a month near the end of the CDM mine LoM. The existing mining infrastructure will be used, with the addition of new accesses, underground development and predevelopment of the mining grids to access the planned mining areas at Beta, Frankfort and CDM.

At Rietfontein, the existing adits and underground development will be used with the addition of new development ends, a new decline and the extension of an existing decline.

The mining strategy for the underground operations is to apply mechanised longhole drilling to narrow-reef mining to selectively mine out only the reef channel, with minimal dilution at Beta, Frankfort and CDM.

Rietfontein will be mined conventionally using shrinkage stoping, with hybrid loading methods between trackless load-haul-dump and rail-bound locomotives.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case, the project has a net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of A$432-million at an average $1 642/oz and an internal rate of return of 65%. Based on these figures, the project has a forecast after-tax payback period of 31 months.

Capital Expenditure
The project will require a total investment of A$232-million to bring the project into production. Phase 1 is estimated at $77-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First gold production is targeted for the second quarter 2024. Beta is scheduled as the first operation to start production, followed by Rietfontein and then the CDM and Frankfort mines, which will start production simultaneously.

Latest Developments
South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation has awarded a water-use license (WUL) for Theta Gold Mines’ Mining Right 83, which covers the majority of the initial TGME underground gold project mining schedule.

The WUL, valid for 12 years, forms an integral part of the TGME underground project, as it authorises the extension of the current tailings storage facility and all planned water-use activities within the mining right area.

Following the granting of the WUL, Theta is in the final stage of discussions with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy concerning the environmental guarantee for the final life-of-mine rehabilitation.

Once these discussions are concluded, Theta expects the environmental-impact assessment approvals to follow.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Met63 (detailed design and costing of processing plant designed for a feed capacity of 45 000 t a month).

Contact Details for Project Information
Theta Gold Mines, tel +61 2 8046 7584 or email info@thetagoldmines.com.