Soweto is getting its own mine, or series of pits, as an Australian junior revisits former gold mine lease areas nearby.....
Though Soweto wasn’t designed to house
mineworkers, who dwelt in mine compounds, its proximity to the massive
gold mines on the western arm of the Witwatersrand gives it many
historic links to the industry.
Now it has lent its name to the Soweto Cluster Gold Project being developed by an Australian junior, West Wits Mining, on previous mine lease areas between Soweto’s borders and those of Roodepoort.
West Wits is not the first to revisit the old mining areas around Johannesburg. DRDGold, Central Rand Gold and Mintails have all done so, with greater or lesser degrees of success.
West Wits has projects in SA and Indonesia. Its SA projects are already producing, but its Derewo River project, though in a highly prospective area near established mines like Grasberg and Ok Tedi, has encountered various hurdles including illegal mining.
The company is 10.5% owned by DRDGold, whose CEO Niel Pretorius is a nonexecutive director. West Wits GM of investor relations Tim Chapman says DRDGold sold certain lease areas to West Wits, for which it received shares in payment.
Pretorius says DRDGold’s West Wits stake is a legacy holding and because of its size it does not feature in DRDGold’s reporting.
West Wits’ major shareholder, with 19.8%, is Twynam Agricultural Group, an Australian business owned by the Kahlbetzer family. Twynam is also a shareholder in another SA venture, AgriProtein, which makes animal feed from fly larvae.
@BDLIVE
Now it has lent its name to the Soweto Cluster Gold Project being developed by an Australian junior, West Wits Mining, on previous mine lease areas between Soweto’s borders and those of Roodepoort.
West Wits is not the first to revisit the old mining areas around Johannesburg. DRDGold, Central Rand Gold and Mintails have all done so, with greater or lesser degrees of success.
West Wits has projects in SA and Indonesia. Its SA projects are already producing, but its Derewo River project, though in a highly prospective area near established mines like Grasberg and Ok Tedi, has encountered various hurdles including illegal mining.
The company is 10.5% owned by DRDGold, whose CEO Niel Pretorius is a nonexecutive director. West Wits GM of investor relations Tim Chapman says DRDGold sold certain lease areas to West Wits, for which it received shares in payment.
Pretorius says DRDGold’s West Wits stake is a legacy holding and because of its size it does not feature in DRDGold’s reporting.
West Wits’ major shareholder, with 19.8%, is Twynam Agricultural Group, an Australian business owned by the Kahlbetzer family. Twynam is also a shareholder in another SA venture, AgriProtein, which makes animal feed from fly larvae.
West Wits has confirmed a gold resource of
1.37moz which is less than 400m from surface, using a cut-off grade of
2g/t, in its Soweto Cluster, which covers the old Durban Roodepoort Deep
(DRD) and Rand Leases mining areas. It believes this is sufficient to
support production of 100,000oz of gold a year for at least 10 years.
Mining began in this area in 1896, reaching a depth of 3.1km, and about 40moz of gold was extracted over the years at grades of about 5g/t. DRD mined until 2000, when it halted operations because of a prevailing low gold price and labour issues.
West Wits intends to open five or six small surface operations to generate cash for more extensive development. The first is the Sol Plaatje project, which poured its first gold in September. The gold is being processed by Mintails (which is in business rescue) at its Mogale plant.
At Sol Plaatje the goal is to treat 14,000t-15,000t/month for a total of about 130,000t from which West Wits will earn US$25/t (depending on the gold price), or about US$3.25m in total. The second area for development will be the Main and South Reef project. West Wits chairman Michael Quinert says discussions with possible contractors have begun.
In the six months to December, West Wits almost halved its bottom-line loss to A$348,000 from A$619,000. It held A$355,000 in cash at the end of the period.
West Wits shares have ranged between A$0.02 and A$0.05 over the past year and an average of about 300,000 shares trade a day. It is not going to be the next AngloGold Ashanti but so far management has delivered on its commitments.
Mining began in this area in 1896, reaching a depth of 3.1km, and about 40moz of gold was extracted over the years at grades of about 5g/t. DRD mined until 2000, when it halted operations because of a prevailing low gold price and labour issues.
West Wits intends to open five or six small surface operations to generate cash for more extensive development. The first is the Sol Plaatje project, which poured its first gold in September. The gold is being processed by Mintails (which is in business rescue) at its Mogale plant.
At Sol Plaatje the goal is to treat 14,000t-15,000t/month for a total of about 130,000t from which West Wits will earn US$25/t (depending on the gold price), or about US$3.25m in total. The second area for development will be the Main and South Reef project. West Wits chairman Michael Quinert says discussions with possible contractors have begun.
In the six months to December, West Wits almost halved its bottom-line loss to A$348,000 from A$619,000. It held A$355,000 in cash at the end of the period.
West Wits shares have ranged between A$0.02 and A$0.05 over the past year and an average of about 300,000 shares trade a day. It is not going to be the next AngloGold Ashanti but so far management has delivered on its commitments.
@BDLIVE
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