The Board of Aflease Gold has approved the commencement of the initial phase of the construction of the Modder East gold mine located near the Town of Springs on South Africa’s East Rand. Activities under the approved R20 million Rand programme  include site clearing and box cut excavation. The programme also includes the selection and training of workers, the provision of basic services and surface infrastructure and the purchase of trackless development equipment for the decline. A sod turning ceremony, to mark the commencement of the box cut, took place May 18 at the Modder East site.

The decision to fast track the project reflects the confidence of Aflease Gold in the robust nature of the project, based on internal work recently done by the company in connection with the preparation of a formal feasibility study. The feasibility study will be audited by independent engineering consultants, SRK Consulting. Assuming the study confirms Aflease Gold’s own assessment of the project, formal approval to proceed with further construction and financing will be sought at that time from the Aflease Gold Board, and the Board of its parent company, sxr Uranium One.

Neal Froneman, CEO of Aflease Gold and CEO and President of sxr Uranium One, said: “I am very gratified by the decision to get moving and by the confidence shown in the project by the Aflease Gold Board. The decision is also a testament to three years of hard preparatory work on the project by our Modder East technical team. I look forward to completing the board approval process in July and thereafter to the completion of the first new gold mine to be developed in the East Rand in over two decades."