Australian mining company Westwits Mining plans to invest 90 million U.S. dollars in developing a new underground gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa. This will be the first new underground gold mine to be developed in South Africa in 15 years.

According to a report by Bloomberg on the 21st, this investment project is for “shallow-mining operations” located in the Witwatersrand Basin, a major global gold-producing region. The project is expected to produce 70,000 ounces of gold annually (1 ounce is approximately 28.35 grams).

South Africa’s gold production once ranked among the highest in the world for a long time. However, over the past two decades, due to soaring costs of mining deep-seated gold deposits, South Africa’s gold output has declined by more than 70%, and its competitiveness in the international market has significantly weakened. According to Bloomberg, the “shallow-mining” project is helping to boost South Africa’s shrinking gold industry.

“The shallow-mining project” has a maximum mining depth of 850 meters. According to the feasibility study, the project is expected to generate revenue of US$2.7 billion over its 17-year operational period, with costs equivalent to less than US$1,300 per ounce of gold. Currently, the spot price of gold has exceeded US$3,300 per ounce.