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Witwatersrand Basin Project – Qala Shallows, South Africa – update

Aerial view of Qala Shallows

Photo by West Wits Mining

11th September 2026

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name of the Project
Witwatersrand Basin Project (WBP) – Qala Shallows.

Location
Gauteng, South Africa, west of the Johannesburg CBD, within the Central Rand Goldfield.

Project Owner/s
West Wits Mining, through West Wits. West Wits holds 74%, with a 26% black economic-empowerment partner shareholding.

Project Description
Qala Shallows is Stage 1 of West Wits’ WBP. The project is an underground gold mine and is fully funded and in development.

The updated definitive feasibility study (DFS), completed by Bara Consulting in July 2025, confirms Qala Shallows as a long-life gold project with a 17-year life-of-mine and total forecast gold production of 944 000 oz.

The operation is designed to produce an average 70 000 oz/y of gold at steady state for 12 years.

The current Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant ore reserve is 4.6-million tonnes grading 2.60 g/t gold for 383 934 oz. The run-of-mine inventory totals 10.7-million tonnes grading 2.98 g/t gold for 1.026-million ounces, inclusive of ore reserves.

The wider WBP global Jorc mineral resource estimate, updated as at February 1, 2026, is 56.44-million tonnes grading 4 g/t gold for 7.24-million ounces. This comprises 14.08-million tonnes at 4.40 g/t for 1.99-million ounces measured, 15.55-million tonnes at 4.04 g/t for 2.02-million ounces indicated, and 26.81-million tonnes at 3.75 g/t for 3.23-million ounces inferred.

The WBP includes three distinct reef horizons: the Kimberley reef, Bird reef and Main reef. Qala Shallows is based on the Kimberley reef package, including the K9A and K9B reefs.

Ore is processed under a toll-treatment agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater’s Ezulwini plant.

Potential Job Creation
The site team is expected to reach more than 1 000 employees in Year 3 as production scales to more than 65 000 t a month.

West Wits’ environmental, social and governance strategy includes local enterprise development initiatives, partnerships with community vendors for site catering and logistics, learnership programmes focused on skills development for local youth, and active engagement through local economic development forums across wards 40 to 45, 49, 70 and 127. The company’s sustainability approach is centred on safe operations, local procurement and community-driven impact.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
At a base-case gold price of $2 850/oz, the updated DFS estimates revenue of $2.7-billion, free cash flow of $983-million, an after-tax net present value of $500-million at a 7.5% discount rate, and an after-tax internal rate of return of 81%. Payback is estimated at eight months from the end of the funding period.

Capital Expenditure
Qala Shallows remains fully funded to steady-state production. The full project finance package comprises a R875-million senior loan facility, a R150-million working capital facility and a R90-million cost-overrun debt facility provided by Absa Bank and Nedbank. 

West Wits had about A$32-million in cash as at June 30, 2026, while the $12.5-million Nebari bridge loan has been repaid in full.

Planned Start/End Date
First ore production was delivered in October 2025. West Wits achieved its maiden gold pour on March 17, 2026. The updated DFS outlines a 17-year life-of-mine.

Latest Developments
West Wits Mining has, following consultation with the stock exchange, decided not to release the scoping study results on its Project 200, which forms part of the company's broader WBP, to the market. The company concluded in a statement, released at the end of August, that the scoping study would not meet ASX requirements, given the proportion of inferred resources used in the production target and the financial information derived there from.

The company assured shareholders that it viewed the results of the study, which had been completed on the basis of a 35-year mine life model for the WBP, as positive and that it intended to continue progressing the project.

The scoping study considered the broader tenure of the company within the Witwatersrand basin and incorporates the company's Qala Shallows project, which is in development.

"The company intends to continue to progress Project 200 and the development of the project through to the next level of studies. As part of that process, the company will also seek to complete additional work, including to convert more inferred mineral resources into higher-confidence categories of mineral resources, with a view of providing further disclosures and updates to the market as appropriate in future," West Wits has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Bara Consulting (DFS update and Project 200 scoping study); Sibanye-Stillwater (Ezulwini toll-treatment processing); Absa Bank and Nedbank (senior, working capital and cost-overrun debt facilities); Tribeca Investment Partners (A$10-million cornerstone placement).

Contact Details for Project Information
West Wits Mining investor relations Jessica Fertig, email ir@westwitsmining.com or info@westwitsmining.com.
 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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