ASX-listed West Wits Mining has completed the 1 West Decline development at its Qala Shallows project, in South Africa, and broken through into the 2 Level mining horizon, providing first access to unmined ore within the historical underground workings.

“The completion of the 1 West Decline into this area of historic 2 Level unmined stopes marks a major operational milestone for Qala Shallows, transitioning the project from development ore into higher-grade production areas with established underground infrastructure already in place.

"Importantly, access to a significant stope inventory with limited additional development required is expected to support a capital-efficient production ramp-up and improved mining flexibility,” says CEO Rudi Deysel.

The 1 West Decline forms part of a planned optimisation of the original mine plan and is specifically designed to accelerate payback, improve capital efficiency and further strengthen the overall project business case.

West Wits has continued to advance underground rehabilitation and production-readiness activities, including support rehabilitation in the main decline, underground water management initiatives and the establishment of additional operational flexibility within the mine plan.

The operational focus remains on increasing underground development rates and establishing sustainable production conditions as the company advances toward steady-state operations.

SCOPING STUDY
Meanwhile, West Wits has extended the timeframe for completing an updated scoping study at Qala Shallows by a month to the end of July, owing to the company's strategic decision to broaden the study's scope and assess multiple development pathways across the Witwatersrand Basin project, of which Qala Shallows is the flagship development.

The expanded study is expected to evaluate three to four potential development scenarios, including the construction of a standalone processing plant; the use of third-party processing infrastructure through strategic partnerships; and the potential integration of additional ore sources and future mining areas beyond the current Qala Shallows mine plan.