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Mintails owns the rights to process and extract gold, uranium and sulphuric acid from extensive tailings resources located on the West and East Rand regions of South Africa's historic Witwatersrand Basin.  Mintails controls these rights in respect of over 330 million tonnes of slimes, sands and rock tailings materials, mainly located on South Africa's historic West Rand and from its 50% joint venture share in over 1.5 billion tonnes of slime tailing materials located on the East Rand.

WEST RAND OPERATIONS - MOGALE PROJECTS

 Mogale Projects .... What's New

•  A new 'Disciplinary Code and Procedure' for Mogale was agreed to by Organised Labour and signed off by Management and will be implemented on 1 September 2009, following training sessions.
•  The draft procedure for the 'Election of Safety Representatives' for Mogale has been completed and is to be tabled for implementation with Organised Labour during August 2009.

Mogale Projects ....  Who's Who

• Koos Van Wyk, Engineering Foreman (Mechanical Specialist) who joins Mogale Gold on 7 September 2009. Koos van Wyk brings 25 years of Metallurgical Engineering experience in the mining industry, specifically in gold and uranium operations.
• James Nawn, Specialist Instrument Technician, who joins Mogale Gold on 17 August 2009. James Nawn has worked in several industries in Instrumentation, and has vast experience in the field.

 

The Mogale Projects comprise:

• The Mogale Sand Circuit (in production)
• The Mogale Slime Circuit Phase 1 (under construction)
• The Mogale Slime Circuit - Phase 2 (pre-feasibility)
• The Witfontein Tailings Deposition Facility (regulatory approval in process)

 

 The Mogale Sand Circuit

The Mogale Gold Project was originally established in 1991/2.  In late 2006 it was recommissioned by Mintails and produced its first commercial gold production in July 2006.  The plant is currently producing at a rate of approximately 22,000 ozs of gold per annum at an average cash cost of USD 800 per ounce.  Various initiatives have been implemented at the Mogale sand tailings processing operation, to ensure that the profitability which was achieved in December 2008 and January 2009 remains and improves over time.  A small internally funded capex program of A$1.5m is being undertaken which should deliver further processing efficiencies by August 2009, which the Company expects will further decrease the cash cost per ounce.

Proposed Mogale Slime Circuit - Mogale Slime Phase 1

Plans are now well advanced to commission a second circuit to process slime tailings at Mogale.  The slime circuit will utilise much of the equipment from the WERGO project which was halted last year.  Capex requirements are estimated at less than AUD 15m and could be provided through one, or a combination of, existing cash reserves (as generated from the Elsburg Sale), operational profits (as contributed from the Mogale Sand Circuit) or new fundraising (emanating from further rationalisation of non-essential or external sources).  A decision on funding options is currently under consideration.  The circuit is being designed to process 350,000 tpm of slimes, recovering approximately 23,000 ozs of gold per annum, at an average cost of US$580 per ounce.  The commissioning of this second circuit would reduce overall operational costs from the combined sand and slime circuit at the Mogale site to an average of US$690 per ounce of gold produced.

Potential New Mogale Float Uranium and Gold Circuit - Mogale Slime Phase 2

Pre-feasibility studies are continuing with respect to a proposed new gold and uranium recovery plant at Mogale.  The pre-feasibility studies are expected to be completed by June 2009.  The study will be funded from existing cash flows.  The full feasibility is planned to commence in July 2009 and, subject to a favourable outcome, construction of this plant would be scheduled to commence in 2010. The construction phase will require additional external funds.

Witfontein Regional Tailings Facility

DRDGold joined as a 50:50 partner in this project late last year.  Jointly the companies own the freehold title to the farms of approximately 1200 hectares of land that are earmarked for this facility. Discussions are continuing with other key regional players regarding the admission of further members into the venture.  There will be no significant costs associated with the project, as the project moves through the regulatory approval process. The Company currently has sufficient deposition capacity at its existing West Wits Pit deposition site to accommodate its planned production for a period of approximately 5 years.  The new planned deposition at Witfontein may provide an additional 750 million tonnes of deposition. This capacity is in excess of the 322 mt of resources owned by Mintails on the West Rand and therefore create opportunities to consolidate the region and / or acquire additional resources.