First blast October, first pour March. It’s just go, go, go for Australia-listed West Wits Mining as it streaks ahead at a time of sky-high gold prices.

The highly impressive and safe manner in which the metallurgical team at the Sibanye-Stillwater Ezulwini gold smelting plant went about processing and pouring of first gold from Qala Shallows on March 17 was a pleasure to behold.

“It’s really great to host the West Wits team,” Sibanye-Stillwater VP and head of surface operating and processing operations Ayanda Shabalala said at the event attended by West Wits chairperson Michael Quinert and West Wits CEO Rudi Deysel.

“We start off with the processing of about 10% of West Wits material and that goes up over the next three years to about 80%.

“We’re looking forward to a very fruitful relationship between ourselves as Sibanye and West Wits,” added Shabalala, at the event that Engineering News & Mining Weekly attended.

Ezulwini, which means ‘in heaven’, has the capacity to process 130 000 t a month.

West Wits’ Qala Shallows is expected to contribute more than $1.15-billion to the South African economy over its 17-year life, supported by a steady-state production profile of 70 000 oz/y for 12 years.

The latest compliant mineral resource estimate of the Witwatersrand Basin project (WBP) of Sydney-listed West Wits Mining is up 2.2-million ounces. The project is situated a mere 15 km west of Johannesburg.

“We want to be your strategic partner, because South Africa is blessed with still a lot of resources that haven’t been exploited, which I think the world’s starting to see. We’ve got 17 years life-of-mine on this project, and we can see it going much longer, 25 to 30 years – and why build a new plant when there’s a perfectly good plant here, which is what attracted us to the whole idea of being a strategic partner with Sibanye-Stillwater,” said Quinert.

The smelt house visit placed major emphasis on safety protocols, with Shabalala expressing the hope that the partnership enhances safety, as a key value, and also innovation.

“We need to look at what else can we do together, how best we can improve production, both from a tonnage point of view as well as from an efficiency point of view. So, I’m excited. If you’re saying you want to grow and actually supply more, we’ll say supply more, even starting now.

“Together we can extract some synergies, that can add value, create employment; create value for the communities, the employees, the shareholders; I’m really looking forward to a long-term relationship that creates win, win outcomes for everyone,” added Shabalala.

Deysel took the opportunity to invite the Ezulwini team to visit Qala Shallows “because I think we share absolutely the same view on how we want to operate. I actually would like you guys to come and visit our little mine, which has started up and which is growing.”

ASX-listed West Wits Mining has started a scoping study under its Project 200 initiative within the broader WBP. Project 200 is a strategic growth initiative aimed at assessing the potential to scale WBP towards an aspirational target of 200 000 oz/y gold production.

The new Qala Shallows gold mine is not only a milestone for West Wits Mining but also for South Africa’s mining industry, the South African economy, and the communities that will share in the opportunities created here, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane highlighted at the official opening of the mine.

“Gold is woven into the fabric of South Africa’s life story. From the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, which transformed Johannesburg into the City of Gold, to today’s modern operations, mining has been central to our nation’s development,” added Mthenjane, whose council continues to play a vital role in ensuring that the legacy of mining – and particularly gold – remains a driver of growth and shared prosperity for generations to come.