News

February 04, 2008

West Wits Gold Sets Bold Strategy For West Rand Project

By Charles Wyatt

Two bits of bad luck over timing have thus far curtailed the performance of West Wits Gold. First, it listed on the ASX on December 18th, exactly a week before Christmas, when the thoughts of all Aussie investors were becoming focused on beach barbies. Second, just when chairman Mike Quinert was getting ready to explain to investors at Indaba why an Aussie company should be exploring for gold and uranium in the Witwatersrand Basin, the lights went out. In the Cape Times on Monday 4th February an explanation is demanded for the blackout which cost the hospitality industry in Cape Town millions of rands as early arrivals at the Mining Conference got away without paying for their dinner thanks to the computers being down. More important the Chevron oil refinery was affected and the results may soon appear on empty forecourts.

None of this will help sentiment towards the host country, but Mike has a good story to tell. The history of his company may be short, but it has access to historical data from over 100 years of mining completed on its project areas through DRDGold and Mintails.  DRDGold has a long history of operations there, while Mintails listed on the ASX early in 2006 to treat tailings on the West Rand gold project, part of the West Rand goldfield on the northest side of the Basin. Since then it has...