$17.5m raise puts West Wits Mining on fast-track to gold production

• Strongly supported placement raises $17.5m at 4c a share
• Proceeds will fund mine development, operating and financing requirements for Qala Shallows gold project
• Poised to transition into long-life, sustainable gold producer 

Special Report: Strong demand from domestic and international institutional and professional investors has furnished West Wits Mining with $17.5 million from a share placement.

West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) will channel the funds into fast-tracking its Qala Shallows gold project in South Africa through development to production.

There will be 437.5m fully paid ordinary shares issued at 4c each, a 14.9% discount to WWI’s last closing price on September 10.

WWI chair Michael Quinert said the capital raise was a pivotal milestone for West Wits.

“The strong support from our investors allows us to accelerate development of the Qala Shallows project into production, with Stage One designed as a transformational step that positions the company as a long-life, sustainable gold producer in one of the world’s historic and prolific gold regions,” he said.

“Together with our recently secured funding facilities, West Wits is firmly placed to deliver on its growth strategy and unlock the full potential of the Witwatersrand Basin Project for shareholders.”

The fresh funding will support capital expenditure and contingency costs associated with Qala Shallow’s development, as well as operating expenditure, financing costs, and general working capital and corporate costs.

Qala Shallows gold project

In July, WWI fielded a definitive feasibility study for the Qala Shallows project that declared an ore reserve of just under 384,000 ounces of gold, with a 17-year mine life and a steady-state production of 70,000 ounces per year for 12 years.

The DFS covers about 60% of the project area that was included in a scoping study for Qala, meaning WWI sees potential to expand the project beyond an initial estimation of 944koz of gold over its current mine life.

WWI has four more projects set to be rolled out in stages within the Witwatersrand Basin, although the company has not produced definitive studies for them just yet.

At present, West Wits is focused on the Qala Shallows project, which is already the subject of a toll treating agreement with SibanyeStillwater.

The company plans to build up a stockpile of 30Kt of ore, to be delivered to Sibanye-Stillwater at a constant rate of 15Kt – 20kt per month as WWI builds to steady-state production of 65Kt per month within three years.

This article was developed in collaboration with West Wits Mining, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.