Burnstone is in the South Rand Goldfield of the Witwatersrand Basin next to the town of Balfour, approximately 75 km east of Johannesburg in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Burnstone is accessed from the N3 highway via the Heidelberg South R23 road at the Balfour exit. The town of Balfour is located approximately 18 km east of the N3. The Burnstone property is accessible via a network of unpaved roads, approximately 6.5 km east of Balfour.

The Burnstone area forms part of the South African highveld, situated 1,670 m above mean sea level (amsl).  arming activities include maize, fodder and livestock farming. Burnstone is a project in execution. Sibanye-Stillwater purchased Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources Ltd (Wits Gold) and, additionally, acquired Southgold Exploration (Pty) Ltd, the sole owner of the Burnstone assets in 2014. The completed FS was independently reviewed in November 2015, with finance approved for development to begin in 2016. The mine design and schedule was limited to the mineable Mineral Reserves within a 3 km radius of the shaft infrastructure. A total of 4.8 km of development was completed in 2017 with first gold expected in 2018. Peak production should be achieved by 2022. Burnstone is a shallow gold mine exploiting the UK9 Reef of the Kimberley Formation. Two shaft
complexes, a three-leg decline and vertical shaft (shaft bottom at 495m below surface), a 125,000tpm gold processing plant, TSF (Tailings storage facility) and all the necessary equipment and services of a producing operation comprise the Burnstone infrastructure.

Mineralisation characteristics

Sediment hosted conglomerates associated with auriferous and uraniferous minerals, locally known as palaeo-placer (reef). Laterally continuous with mid-range predictability. Clear patterns of mineralisation governed by sedimentary characteristics.

Depositional environment

The palaeo-placer originated from a braided stream environment that’s deposition was structurally controlled along a basinal edge.

Infrastructure

Shallow underground mining project with two established shaft complexes (one vertical and one decline shaft).

Mining method

Conventional selective, scattered, breast mining with scraper cleaning and mechanised footwall infrastructure.

Mineral processing

One CIL gold processing plant.

Gold Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves

On map