WEST WITS MINING LIMITED (ASX:WWI)
On 26th April 2007 Mintails Limited and DRDGOLD Limited (NASDAQ: DROOY: JSE: DRD) announced reaching an agreement on the formation of a joint venture company now called West Wits Mining Limited(West Wits) to explore, evaluate and potentially extract gold and uranium from the Company's Project Areas located on the Western Rand Goldfield of South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin. West Wits is planning to list through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the ASX in December 2007. The Company is planning to raise a $15 million.
West Wits' objective is to explore, delineate and, if commercially viable, extract gold and uranium from a Project Area located on the north-western side of the Witwatersrand Basin, Johannesburg, South Africa. The Witwatersrand Basin is regarded as one of the largest mineralised gold and uranium systems in the world and is widely known for its rich, continuous multiple reef ore-bodies. The history of mining in the region extends back to 1886 when gold was first discovered on what became known as the Rand Goldfields. Since 1886 over 50,000 tonnes of gold have been produced from the region. The Company's Project Area is located on the western side of the Rand Goldfields and forms part of what came to be known as the West Rand Goldfield.
West Wits has entered into a contract for the acquisition of prospecting and mining rights from DRDGOLD Limited, Mintails Limited and Geotorm Investments Limited. These rights, which will be held through subsidiaries, comprise the historical holdings of Rand Lease, Durban Roodepoort Deep Mine ("the DRD Mine"), East Champ D'Or Mine, Luipaardsvlei Mine, West Rand Consolidated Mine and West Wits Mine. These mines collectively produced 61.4 million ounces of gold and 35 million pounds of uranium over the past 120 years. The reefs contained within the Project Area include features such as outcropping reef, untested virgin sections of reef, reefs open at depth and remnant pillars within the historic works.
West Wits has access to historical mining data, some of which dates back to initial activities in the region over 100 years ago. The Company believes that its Project Area holds the potential for gold and uranium mineralisation, which, when combined with current commodity prices and advanced processing technologies, may provide economic value.
The Company's exploration program will seek to investigate three types of exploration targets: surface resource targets (less than 70m below surface) with open cut mining potential; unmined reefs with underground mining potential, particularly at shallow depths; and underground remnant pillar recovery potential and possible opportunistic recovery of remnant gold fines remaining from historical mining activities.
West Wits will initially focus on the well-known Bird Reef Group, which is contiguous through the Project Area. he section of the Bird Reef Group, which runs through the Rand Lease, was the subject of extensive commercial mining for a long period. The same reef has remained unexploited on the adjacent DRD Mine and will therefore provide a major focus of West Wits' initial exploration program.
Once exploration has begun on the Bird Reef Group, it is anticipated that other reef groups will be explored. Some of these reefs, such as the Main Reef Group, have been mined extensively, and may lend themselves to remnant pillar recovery.
Other reef groups, such as the Kimberly, have the potential for larger open cut and underground remnant pillar recovery. The Company has assembled an experienced team of geological, technical and corporate personnel to further its objectives. The Company's goal will be to apply the capital raised to explore the Project Area utilising modern exploration techniques and through examining available data concerning the region accumulated over 100 years.