By: Reuters

In a rare bright spot for South Africa’s ageing gold sector, West Wits Mining has launched the country’s first new underground gold mine in 15 years, tapping into one of the most storied and geologically rich gold regions on earth.

The Qala Shallows project, located on Johannesburg’s western fringe, sits within the legendary Witwatersrand basin, which according to official data has produced 30–40% of all the world’s gold ever mined. The mine represents a return to new underground development in a country long defined by deep‑level operations but increasingly constrained by cost pressures, power instability and declining ore grades.

“We have a very good economical project itself, given the new gold prices,” West Wits Mining CEO Rudi Deysel told Reuters during a visit to the mine. 

Gold’s surge above $5,000 an ounce this year has upended assumptions about South Africa’s mining economics, making previously uneconomic deposits suddenly viable. West Wits plans an initial output of 70,000 ounces a year, eventually scaling up toward 200,000 ounces through additional phases.

The launch comes as global central banks continue to diversify out of the U.S. dollar and into gold, contributing to record demand. “In the last four years we’ve had massive purchases of gold by central banks, particularly emerging‑market central banks… exceeding 1,000 tons per year,” said South African mining and markets analyst   Jeffrey Mashiane, speaking to Reuters in Johannesburg. Despite decades of production decline, Mashiane said South Africa remains the third‑largest holder of gold reserves worldwide and continues to produce massive amounts of gold.

Retail demand is also surging. At InvestGold’s Johannesburg showroom, CEO Gerrie Erasmus displayed a one‑ounce Kruger Rand coin. "With what’s going on in the world, a lot of unrest, war, it’s a safe haven where people store their money,” he said.

For Qala Shallows, the convergence of global turmoil, investor demand and an iconic mineral basin may be the conditions South Africa’s gold sector needed for a rare revival.

The mine has a projected 17‑year mine life and a resource of 7.2 million ounces, which Deysel believes could grow as exploration continues across adjacent zones of the basin.

(Production: Thando Hlophe, Siyabonga Sishi, Sisipho Skweyiya)