West Wits Mining has reported a 724 000 oz increase in the resource base at its Witwatersrand Basin project (WBP), in South Africa.
Last month, the ASX-listed company reported a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource estimate of 4.28-million ounces at WBP, grading 4.58 g/t gold.
“This upgrade to our flagship gold project provides a tremendous boost to our confidence in the WBP mine plan,” said West Wits MD Jac van Heerden.
“This mineral resource update does not include areas removed on granting of the mining right and now subject to new prospecting right applications which, if successful, will reinstate portions of the historical mineral resource. “Moving into the four-million-ounce figure range at a robust grade of 4.58 g/t gold, once again, confirms the vigorous nature of the gold resources contained within the WBP.
“Increasing the mineral resource estimate by 20% in ounces and grade by 0.32 g/t sees us ending 2021 on a high note. We are very much looking forward to a prolific 2022, commencing with the production from our early mining initiative,” said Van Heerden.
The increase in the mineral resource has prompted West Wits to review an earlier scoping study for the WBP, and an updated production target and financial modeling is now expected next month.
The original scoping study estimated that the WBP could produce some 1.56-million ounces of gold over a 22-year mine life, producing an average of 80 000 oz/y over 18 years of this mine life.
The scoping study estimated that the project would reach a peak production rate of over 95 000 oz/y and could produce 90 000 oz/y between years 6 and 11 of operations.