Source : THE AGE NEWS
West Wits Mining has posted a double-barrelled win at its flagship Witwatersrand Basin project in South Africa, successfully popping its 1 West decline through into the historical 2 Level mining horizon while simultaneously broadening its ongoing scoping study to target regional growth.
The crucial operational breakthrough at the Qala Shallows deposit has given the company immediate access to a substantial pool of unmined, in-situ ore and pre-established underground workings.
By tapping directly into this legacy infrastructure, West Wits aims to target shallow, near-surface reef zones that old-school operators bypassed decades ago. The move is expected to capture higher gold grades and supercharge its production ramp-up timeline, while keeping a tight lid on initial capital expenditure.
Punching into the 2 Level zone appears to have delivered a major commercial shortcut for the company’s underground mining campaign. Management says by exploiting the old-timer workings it has potentially hacked a year of intensive development work from the schedule, a move that directly optimises the original mine layout.
‘A significant stope inventory with limited additional development required is expected to support capital efficient production ramp-up.’
West Wits Mining managing director and chief executive officer Rudi Deysel
It’s a smart move by the company, engineered to bolster capital efficiency, drive down project payback periods, and solidify the overall financial metrics of the entire operation.
West Wits Mining chief executive officer and managing director, Rudi Deysel said: “The completion of the 1 West Decline into this area of historic 2 Level unmined stopes marks a major operational milestone for Qala Shallows, transitioning the project from development ore into higher-grade production areas with established underground infrastructure already in place.”
The Witwatersrand Basin project features a massive global resource estimate of 7.24 million ounces of gold running at an average grade of 4 grams per tonne. This substantial inventory is neatly split between 1.99 million ounces of gold in the measured category, 2.02 million ounces of gold in the indicated class, and an additional 3.23 million ounces of gold categorised as inferred.
In tandem with the decline breakthrough, West Wits says it has decided to extend the delivery timeline for its updated scoping study from late June to the end of July this year. This will allow the company time to evaluate three to four distinct processing and development pathways, following discussions and advice from several South African producers and processing groups.
The upcoming study will weigh the commercial merits of building a standalone processing plant or using third-party processing infrastructure via strategic joint ventures. Additionally, the study will also map the integration of future mining zones beyond the current Qala Shallows footprint.
West Wit’s development has involved a significant surface and underground infrastructure facelift. Construction of the main site haulage road is now 90 per cent complete, with heavy haulage trucks already busy on the newly dedicated transport route.
Other surface upgrades include a freshly completed main store facility to streamline critical inventory, alongside a transition to a fully integrated site access control system to tighten security.
Down the hole, the company’s underground mining fleet has been strengthened by the arrival of a new 10-tonne load-haul-dump unit, along with a high-capacity jumbo drill rig slated to land onsite shortly, giving the company additional drilling options.
Beyond the immediate action at Qala Shallows, West Wits says it continues to evaluate the broader footprint of its Witwatersrand Basin project. The asset sits within the Central Rand Goldfield, a world-renowned district that has historically delivered over 22 per cent of all global gold reserves.
The company is also testing prospects immediately adjacent to Qala Shallows, aiming to unlock easy ounces from satellite ore bodies.
With the hard yards of underground decline development out of the way, West Wits looks primed to rapidly scale up its footprint as a high-grade gold producer.
Punters will likely be keeping a close eye on this one as the scoping study drops in July, revealing the true scale of this South African treasure chest.
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