Wits Gold has reported the results of a positive prefeasibility study (PFS) of its De Bron-Merriespruit (DBM) project, located south of the mined-out Merriespruit gold mine, 6 km south of the town of Virginia in the southern Free State goldfield, South Africa. The study describes development of a shallow underground mine accessed by a twin-shaft system to a depth of 660 m. Reserves are estimated at 23.5 million mt grading 4.05 g/mt gold, for 3.1 million oz of contained gold. First gold would be produced 47 months after the start of shaft sinking.
DBM ore will be delivered to an on-site carbon-in-leach gold recovery plant that will recover 96% of the contained gold. Including a five-year ramp-up period, the mine is expected to operate for 18 years at an average production rate of more than 200,000 oz/y of gold and cash costs estimated at $628/oz.
