BLYVOORUITZICHT Gold (Blyvoor Gold) remains on track for the “big green button push” in May next year, according to chairman Peter Skeat who is planning to resurrect the mine in partnership with Dane and Bastiat Viljoen and the backing of Cadiz Corporate Solutions.
Skeat confirmed his earlier comments to Miningmx in August that the company expected to obtain Section 11 approval for the transfer of the mining title from the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) before Christmas.
“Once we have that in place, then we can complete the fund raising exercise which is now in its final stages and should be completed by May next year but that is, of course, subject to no adverse political developments taking place,” Skeat said.
Blvyoor Gold is looking to raise $70m of which $20m is earmarked for a surface treatment project based on the mine’s 140 million ton (mt) Samrec-compliant resource of surface tailings dumps containing an estimated 1.3m oz of gold. Initial production would be at a rate of 18,000oz of gold annually.
The balance of $50m will be used to develop an underground project mining a 28m oz Samrec-compliant resource from which initial production would be 50,000oz/year rising to 100,000oz/year after year three.
The first eight years of underground mining will take place at shallow levels above the depth of 1,500m at which the workings are flooded. The water is maintained at that level through pumping carried out by AngloGold to protect its adjacent Savuka mine.
