West Wits Mining is adding another patch of Pilbara land prospective for the nuggety gold that is so hot right now in a deal worth an initial $1.84 million.

West Wits (ASX:WWI) is acquiring Tambina Gold, which has the right to acquire three gold mining licences that have a small-scale mining operation already in place.

The geology is similar to Novo Resources Purdy’s Reward project in the West Pilbara and West Wits’ other recently acquired Pilbara asset, the Mount Cecelia project — which are both part of the Lower Fortescue Group.

The Fortescue Group is made up of mafic volcanic rocks found in the Fortescue Basin in the Pilbara Craton which are known to host gold and other minerals.

Novo and partner Artemis Resources kicked off the Pilbara gold nugget rush on July 13 when they announced a gold nugget find at their Purdy’s Reward site.

West Wits shares over the past three months. Source: Investing.com
West Wits shares over the past three months. Source: Investing.com

West Wits also has projects in South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin, which is believed to be very similar to the system in the Pilbara that hosts the recent gold nugget discoveries.

The Tambina project acquisition will make West Wits the only gold producer with operations in both regions that have conglomerate gold mineralisation, Chairman Michael Quinert said.

“West Wits has moved quickly to secure its second Pilbara conglomerate gold asset, that is part of the Lower Fortescue Group, with the strategic and opportunistic acquisition of the Tambina project,” he said.

“With three mining leases already approved, the board intends to rapidly scale up the existing gold mining operations given the Tambina project’s significant potential to host a palaeo-placer gold deposit.”

Mr Quinert told Stockhead West Wits still needs to complete the 30-day due diligence before the deal is finalised.

“It’s been a quick deal, we’ve got to do our due diligence,” he said.

“At this stage it’s too early to say what we would ramp up to. We want to get through the due diligence, meet the people on site and then see what is possible.”

The operation currently only produces in the hundreds of ounces, but Mr Quinert said it is not just about the production.

“From our point of view, the small scale mining, it’s not only the gold production it’s actually giving us an insight into the geology and having someone there gives us also the base of a camp and such to conduct our exploration,” he said.

To settle the deal, West Wits will pay $300,000 in cash and issue 70 million shares at a deemed price of 2.2c. The company is undertaking a $500,000 placement to help fund the deal.

Quinert told Stockhead he is confident due diligence will be completed successfully and the deal will be finalised in the first half of January.