Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- West Wits Mining (WW1) updates the DFS for Qala Shallows, part of the company’s Witwatersrand Basin project in South Africa
- Revenue, gold output, and overall value have all been boosted upward
- The company expects an increase of 27 per cent more gold per year than previously forecast
- The cost of production has also fallen, bucking the inflationary trends hitting miners
- West Wits shares are up 11.1 per cent, trading at 2 cents at 1:46 pm AEST
West Wits Mining (WWI) has updated the metrics within its definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Qala Shallows, part of the company’s Witwatersrand Basin project in South Africa.
The company reported it expects to see overall gold production from Qala increase by an eye-catching 38 per cent to 924,000 ounces of gold over 17 years.
West Wits also expects 70,000 ounces to be produced per year for nine years once things are up and running; a 27 per cent increase for per annum output.
Bucking the trend of inflationary costs still putting pressure on miners, West Wits also aims for the cost of producing an ounce of gold to be down by 10.7 per cent to US$977 per ounce.
Free cashflow projections are up 95 per cent to $522 million; and post tax value is placed at $255 million – up by 104 per cent compared to the previous figure, $130 million.
And the ore reserve has seen a boost, too: West Wits now sees 4.03 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 2.71 grams per tonne for 351,000 ounces of gold, which is, in turn, a 21 per cent increase.
Total revenue is expected to hit $1.7 billion.
“[The] updated DFS has delivered a strong result and sets the scene for us to deliver a substantially larger gold project,” WW1 Chair Michael Quinert said.
“The project’s potential is evident in the updated financial metrics. With an impressive increase of US$254 million (95 per cent) in free cashflow, the project is set to generate US$522 million.”
WW1 shares were up 11.1 per cent, trading at 2 cents at 1:46 pm AEST.
