“The declaration of a maiden Reserve represents the next important milestone in the project’s development and a significant step in our medium-term goal of bringing this asset to book,” Universal CEO Tony Weber said.

“Following the recent granting of a mining right, Brakfontein only awaits the receipt of its water licence (IWULA) before proceeding to development.

“We will now focus our efforts on optimising the feasibility study including investigating the case for utilising excess capacity at the nearby Kangala operation”

Phase 1 development is targeting 1.2 million tonnes per annum of production over an 8-year mine life.

The project is earmarked to be Universal’s third operation.