Hello everyone, and welcome to the quarterly webinar update for West Wits Mining Limited. ASX ticker code is WWI. I'm Jess Furtick, and I'm delighted to be joined by the CEO and Managing Director, Rudi Deysel, who joins us from South Africa. West Wits Mining is advancing its flagship, Witwatersrand Basin Project in South Africa's Central Rand Goldfield, positioning itself as the country's next emerging gold producer. Now, before we get started, I just want to thank all of our investors for submitting all of their questions. It's really delightful to have such engaged shareholders. Rudi, it's great to see you.
Great, thanks Jess. Thanks for having me.
Okay, Rudi, let's just delve straight in. Okay, so Rudi, investors are keen to understand the progress on the Prospecting Rights. They want to understand if you're still expecting these to be granted this calendar year and what level of confidence you have in terms of the timing and the outcome of those.
Yes, we remain optimistic that we will have that Prospecting Rights granted before year end. Look, these approvals are within the governmental departments, but our teams are close and regularly in contact with them. We track it carefully, and we're confident that the approvals and the quality of, you know, the approval of our and the quality of our submission. It's simply a matter of timing. Dzarma from our team is on it. She's following up directly with the department, and we're encouraged in the progress so far.
Fantastic, Rudi. Now, there were quite a few questions from investors on your uranium project. Can you walk us through West Wits's uranium strategy, where things currently stand now, when you expect to begin drilling and potential feasibility work, and what is the company's sort of broader growth strategy to advance that part of the business?
Yeah, look, we really see a lot of upside in this uranium asset. Right now, we are finalizing our exploration program and budget to move our uranium deposit from an exploration target into a JORC compliant resource. Mobilization is targeted for next year, with drilling to follow in a phased program. Once we've defined that resource, we'll move into a feasibility study to test the financial viability and determine the optimal path forward.
Fantastic. In terms of future uranium processing options, assuming that the feasibility study is positive, how is the company thinking about processing uranium? Would it be handled internally or through existing infrastructure? That was another question.
Look, that will be guided by the business case itself. The one advantage that we do have is optionality. The Ezulwini plant, which will already process our gold through our toll treatment agreement, has a uranium circuit. It is currently in care and maintenance, but look, the existing infrastructure gives us some potential low CapEx route to production in the future, but something we will explore closely once we have a resource and that is defined.
Fantastic. Now we're going to shift to sort of stockpile and operations. How is Qala Shallows progressing? We've sort of had a lot of news flow from the company on that project. What's the latest on stockpiling and production ramp-up?
Yeah, I think the guys will be interested in that, but look, we are in the middle of a build-up phase, and things are tracking to plan. We've got currently around 2,000 tons on the stockpile. The rate will increase each month as we open up and expose more working places underground, and that's exactly how our mine works. For context, we expect about 2,500 tons in November. That will grow to 4,000 tons in December, 6,000 in January, and then up to 9,000 by March. This is a steady, deliberate ramp-up towards our target of 30,000 tons, which will trigger then our ore feed to the plant and that first pour. Look, it's an exciting time each month. We can see the tangible progress as the mine builds towards steady-state production.
Now, on that topic, Rudi, for those sort of newer to the story, can you explain how Qala Shallows is being mined and processed?
Look, Qala Shallow is designed as a trackless mine using a hybrid method. In other words, we use mechanized equipment for development and haulage, while our stoping will be done by conventional handheld equipment. Ore will then be trucked to Ezulwini Plant, which is owned by Sibanye-Stillwater. It is about 42 km away on an excellent road infrastructure. It is all by highway. The agreement has already been executed, and Ezulwini's SAG mills are perfectly suited to handle our run-of-mine ore. No on-site crushing is required. It is a robust, low-risk setup that leverages the existing infrastructure and proven processing capabilities. Look, the number of required trucks will also increase month by month with production, with a maximum of about 13 trucks. That is 40-ton tipper trucks that we will use, and that will be required to transport the 65 kilotons per month.
Fantastic, Rudi. Now, there's been some shareholder confusion around a AUD 0.06 share price reference in recent communications from the company. Can you just clarify management's view on valuation expectations and the long-term upside?
Yeah, look, there was no attempt or intention by management to communicate a view on the maximum share price. The ultimate share price will be determined by the market. As an upside potential, if the mine plan is executed successfully and market conditions remain as it is currently. Look, the performance rights proposal was set through the normal remuneration committee and board process, which factored in for the share price at that time of consideration, and that was around AUD 0.023 at that time. The performance rights proposal had been to be incorporated into a draft notice of meeting and needed to be reviewed by both the ASIC and ASX before being circulated to the shareholders. This process takes months, and there was significant share price uplift in that period due to a range of factors. In reality, we see significant upside and potential.
The share price will ultimately be driven by execution and delivering the mine plan, achieving steady-state production, and continuing to grow our resource base. If we stay on track, we believe the market will then reflect that value accordingly.
Yeah, absolutely, Rudi. Thank you for clarifying that. Now, we have some general questions. The first one is, can you explain the company's approach to the gold price protection and the put option program that's in place?
Look, we plan to protect 50% of our gold sales during the build-up phase of the project. That's effectively in year two and three, which also is a requirement of our senior lenders as our operating profits are a big source of our funds during the big funding period. Look, the company's current hedge strategy is a put option program, which mitigates downside exposure, with the company having the option to sell at the predetermined strike price, but maintains the upside exposure as a company does not have to deliver into the position and can sell all prevailing gold price when it's higher. Now, the trade-off against the forward sale where the company is locked into delivery is the put option requires a premium to be paid upfront. Now, given the strength of the gold price, which is currently trading at AUD 4,000 per ounce.
Premiums on a put option program will, with a strike price of AUD 3,000 per ounce, at a relative inexpensive. It's relatively inexpensive when you look at what low-cost Qala Shallows will actually produce that gold. Essentially, the strategy gives us downside protection, but keeps full upside exposure to our gold prices. I think that's a prudent approach, especially in the current strong pricing environment.
Yeah, absolutely, Rudi. Thank you. What is the next growth priority or strategy for West Wits? Where do you see the value creation coming from past Qala Shallows? Was another question from an investor.
Yeah, look, we're currently in the process to submit more Prospecting Right applications for approval. With the two Prospecting Rights mentioned previously that are close to being granted, the intention is then to include these new areas with our existing resource to kick off the process towards a feasibility study for Project 200. That's our aspirational target, which will increase from our current production of 70,000 oz per annum in our Qala Shallows Project, ultimately to that 200,000 oz per annum. This will require some additional infrastructure, like shafts and access to dedicated processing plant, which could mean we can build our own plant or we can procure an existing plant. A larger production rate will benefit from economies of scale and compress our cash flow.
Thanks, Rudi. There was a question from an investor on the loan facilities. Are there any further requirements of West Wits pending for the completion of finance requirements for either of the two loan facilities? If so, what are they?
Look, we expect financial close on the Nedbank facility to occur soon. The majority of those conditions for drawdown of the $12.5 million tranche to complete it. The company has to fund a portion of the project development by equity prior to drawdown of the debt, which is currently being deployed. The debt facility is not yet required. The senior syndicate loan facility with the South African institutions is approximately AUD 50 million. It's not scheduled for drawdown until mid next year. There are various conditions precedent normal to this type of facility, which will be completed prior to that, which include execution of the project plan, deployment of equity, implementing the hedge strategy, et cetera. The company has close engagement with the South African lenders, and we are tracking very well to financial close.
Fantastic. Thanks, Rudi. Now, I just have one final question from you from an investor, which is, does the company intend on providing progress updates between now and first gold pour at Qala Shallows? If so, what sort of intervals would we expect to be reasonable?
Look, yes, absolutely. We intend to provide regular progress updates and under disclosure requirements of the ASIC. Look, our goal is to maintain a clear and consistent communication with shareholders as the project advances. You can expect updates at key operational milestones such as development progress, stockpile build-up, equipment deployment, and first ore to plant. As we move deeper in the production phase, we also plan to provide increasingly detailed reporting on performance and cost metrics. Ultimately, our approach is about building confidence through transparency and demonstrating steady execution and letting the results speak for themselves. Look, I just want to add to that. In these early stages, it's extremely important for us, because I saw previously our project failed. Where we don't set that standard of work upfront, while those operational tons are little, because you can always catch up on that production in the beginning.
Currently, me and my management team spend a lot of time underground and on the face with the people to make sure that we deliver not only tons, but quality tons, because that's the only way to sustainable production. Really, really lift that safety culture that we want to have in our mind. That's important to begin a project like that. That's our philosophy. Thanks, Jess.
Unbelievable, Rudi. I think it's been such a phenomenal quarter for the company, not only sort of finalizing all of the funding requirements to get to sustainable gold production, but also completing all of your mobilization, actually starting, going underground. I think everyone's just very excited to hear more updates, which I'm sure there will be over the course of the next quarter.
No, absolutely.
Rudi, that's all for the investor questions. Thank you so much for your time. I know you're busy. You're always going underground. Also, again, thank you to all of the shareholders who submitted your questions. It's really wonderful to have an engaged shareholder base. Yeah. Thanks, Rudi, and thanks, everyone.