South African gold producer DRDGold is investing about ZAR7.8 billion to extend the life of its production sites on the West and East Rand in Gauteng by about 20 years.

Mining Weekly reports that the capital outlay forms part of the company’s Vision 2028, which aims to increase throughput to three million tons a month, and boosting gold production to 200 000 ounces annually.

DRDGold’s production stems from processing historic surface tailings – at Ergo on the East Rand and Far West Gold Recoveries on the West Rand – rather than through traditional underground mining. However, throughput rate is being throttled by the deposition capacity of tailings storage facilities (TSF).

The new Withok TSF being planned for Ergo is designed to hold 310 million tons of material with a deposition rate of 1.3 million tons a month. According to MiningMx, it is scheduled to be commissioned within the next three years.

The new Regional TSF – to service the Far West Gold Recoveries operation – is designed for 800 million tons at an eventual deposition rate of 2.4 million tons a month.

‘I think I’ll venture to say that this is possibly the largest tailings dam constructed on a liner, definitely in South Africa, maybe even in the southern hemisphere. I don’t know of another tailings dam that’s this big,’ DRDGold chief operating officer Jaco Schoeman told Mining Weekly, referring to the Regional TSF.

26 August 2025
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