West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) has executed a definitive loan agreement for its project financing package, which fully funds the Qala Shallows Gold Project in South Africa.
The full financing package comprises three complementary facilities, all provided collectively by Absa Bank and Nedbank, totalling ZAR$1.115 billion ($96.40 million).
On 21 May 2026, West Wits executed a binding term sheet for a ZAR$875 million senior loan facility to fund project development, ramp-up, and production. Following this a ZAR$150 million working capital facility was secured to fund the production working capital cycle at a lower cost of debt.
West Wits then secured a ZAR$90 million overrun debt facility, which is a contingency facility providing financial resilience through the construction and ramp up period of the project.
CEO Rudi Deysel says executing all three facility agreements marks the completion of the project financing package.
“The senior loan facility, announced in May 2026, provides the core capital backbone,” Deysel says.
“The working capital facility and cost overrun debt facility now provide the commercial flexibility any operating mine requires — ensuring we can efficiently manage our working capital cycle and maintain financial resilience through the ramp-up phase.
“With our funding structure complete and gold production already underway, the focus is entirely on disciplined operational delivery — advancing underground development, increasing ore delivery rates to the Ezulwini processing plant, and building toward steady-state production.”
The company intends to accelerate the Qala Shallows ramp-up toward the targeted steady production rate of 70,000 ounces per year from Q4 2028.
In conjunction, West Wits will advance a Project 200 Scoping Study, targeting a materially higher production profile of 200,000 ounces per year.
West Wits’ Qala Shallows Project is the first new underground gold mine to be developed in South Africa in more than 15 years, backed by a Definitive Feasibility Study with a US$500 million post-tax net present value at US$2,850 an ounce gold price over a 16.8-year mine life. The project also contains a resource estimate of 7.2 million ounces @ 4 grams per tonne gold.
West Wits Mining is an explorer, developer, and producer of precious and base metals. The company is focused primarily on the Witwatersrand Basin located in the Central Rand Goldfields of South Africa.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: West Wits Mining
