JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Blyvoor gold mine, the restarted underground Witwatersrand gold mine west of Johannesburg, is on the way back up.

South African mining company Aurous Resources reported on Monday, December 17, that rising gold prices and Blyvoor’s improved operational performance has increased the Carletonville mine’s operating profit by 59%.

In its most recent preliminary financial and operational results for the period ended August 31, unaudited preliminary revenue of R410-million was reported, a 5% increase year-on-year.

“We’re pleased to announce meaningful progress on all fronts over the past quarter,” Aurous CEO Richard Floyd reported.

In addition to operating Blyvoor, Aurous is developing the Gauta tailings retreatment project on the West Rand.

“We’ve enjoyed the continued support of the various regulators, we’ve closed out on our interim audit…and most importantly we have attracted strategic partners to further the funding drive towards capitalising our next phase of growth,” Floyd noted in a release to Mining Weekly.

On closing the transaction, Hennie van Greuning, Christine Coignard and Stephen Hayes will join the board as independent non-executive directors amid Aurous securing commercial terms for a R356-million investment by Siyanda Resources through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing.

“We see many opportunities to work with the Aurous executive team to unlock potential opportunities and create value for shareholders,” Siyanda FD Imraan Osman enthused.

The agreement remains subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and the execution of full documentation.

If approved, the deal will bring the combined committed and commercially agreed upon PIPE financing to R489-million by adding to a previously unreported investment of R133-million.

Meanwhile, the business combination process with Rigel Resource Acquisition is expected its to close in January, with an ultimate listing on the US’ NASDAQ stock exchange.

Since the restart of Blyvoor production in 2022, Aurous has been able to re-employ about 1 500 workers who had been unemployed following closure of the mine in 2013.