West Wits taps into Witwatersrand expertise for Pilbara proects

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold junior West Wits intends to leverage its Witwatersrand basin geology expertise when it embarks on scaling up operations at its new Pilbara conglomerate gold projects, chairperson Michael Quinert said on Tuesday, announcing that the company is buying more gold leases south-east of Port Hedland.

West Wits, which is currently focusing on developing its Soweto Cluster gold project, near Johannesburg, in South Africa, has secured three conglomerate gold mining leases in a geological setting that is similar to its Mt Cecelia project area and that of Novo Resources’ Purdy’s Reward conglomerate gold project, in West Pilbara.

TSX-V-listed Novo believes that the Pilbara was historically and geologically linked to South Africa and the Witwatersrand basin.

Based on the geology, West Wits noted that the leases, known as the Tambina project, had significant potential to host a palaeo-placer gold deposit associated with the pyritic conglomerates of the Bellary formation that are part of the Lower Fortescue Group.

The Tambina project already has a small scale mining operation in place, which the company said it planned to expand.

“The board intends to rapidly scale up the existing gold mining operations, given the Tambina project’s significant potential to host a palaeo-placer gold deposit. The Tambina project acquisition will make West Wits the only gold producer with operations in both regions that have conglomerate gold mineralisation,” Quinert said in a media statement.

In South Africa, West Wits remains focused on scaling up production at the Witwatersrand Basin project and to increase the current 1.38-million-ounce resource.

West Wits will purchase the Tambina project in cash and shares, with a nonrefundable cash payment of A$100 000 due upon the execution of a term sheet and a further payment of A$200 000 upon completion of the acquisition. The company will also issue 70-million fully paid ordinary shares at the completion of the acquisition to the Tambina vendors at 2.2c a share and a further 30-million shares upon the satisfaction of certain milestones.

Further, West Wits announced that it had received commitments for a two-tranche capital raising of about A$500 000 at 2.2c a share.