Cape Town – DRDGold on Thursday confirmed that it had recorded a 66.6 percent increase in mineral reserves on December 31. The South African producer that recovers gold from the retreatment of surface tailings, said the revision was the result of a drilling programme and pre-feasibility study that was started in September 2016.
The study re-evaluated surface gold tailings on the East Rand to the east of the Ergo plant.
DRDGold said the revision meant a five-year extension to the operating life of Ergo.
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The company added that capital expenditure of R507.7 million would be needed to access these dumps and dams, which included the cost of 162.4km of pipelines and new pump stations.
No major upgrades were required to the current Ergo processing plant, and the existing Brakpan/Withok tailings deposition facility had sufficient capacity to dispose of processing waste.
All required permits are in place, DRDGold added.