Under agreement with a mining contractor, West Wits will be paid a price equal to 0.6 grams of gold (circa US$25) for each tonne of ore mined.
Allowing for recoupment of start-up costs, the company is expected to receive payments for the ore in the next 3-4 weeks.
West Wits is anticipating to mine 6,000 tonnes of ore in November.
Thereafter, the mining contractor projects a steady rise of ore tonnage to about 14-15,000 tonnes per month.
130,000 tonnes of ore is scheduled for extraction in Stage 1 at the Sol Plaatje over 12 months followed by a 50,000 tonnes schedule in Stage 2 over 6 months.
Further to the per-tonne payment, there is also a potential upside through a 50:50 profit share after costs and priority payments.
The proceeds from mining at the Sol Plaatje will allow West Wits to expedite its exploration and development plans for further on surface and near surface projects within the Soweto Cluster.
The Soweto Cluster has total resources of 12.7 million tonnes, containing 1.374 million tonnes of gold grading 3.38 g/t gold.
Notably, head grades delivered to the mill to date have been in line with expectations at circa 2 g/t gold, with processing recoveries exceeding the projected 85%.
West Wits’ share price has increased 72% during the past 6 months, last trading $0.031.