Four years ago, DRDGOLD, as part of its ongoing commitment to optimising its portfolio of assets, initiated a capital investment programme aimed at structurally reconfiguring ERGO’s cost profile, and developing the infrastructure required to extend its life of mine, while increasing both throughput and production capacity.
It was a two-part programme, the first involving the construction of a 60MW solar plant and a 187MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at ERGO. Construction started in FY2022 and the project was fully commissioned in FY2025. This investment has fundamentally reset ERGO’s cost profile, strengthening energy security, reducing its carbon footprint, and demonstrating how investment in strategic infrastructure can improve both operational resilience and financial performance. Today, the Solar and BESS plant supplies around 47% of ERGO’s electricity requirements for around 12 hours a day.
The second part, a R10 billion capital infrastructure investment programme involving five distinct projects, was aimed at establishing tailings storage and plant throughput capacity capable of lifting combined throughput from the company’s two operations, ERGO and Far West Gold Recoveries (FWGR) from around 2.15 million tonnes per month to 3 million tonnes per month and grow annual gold production to approximately 6 tonnes by 2028. This programme was called Vision 2028 and construction started in FY2024.
Now, mid 2026, that vision is moving from commitment to delivery.
The first major milestone of Vision 2028, the resumption of deposition onto the Daggafontein TSF, has now been achieved, when, on 25 June 2026 water was first pumped to the facility. The first deposition of tailings followed shortly on 6 July 2026. The project adds 120 million tonnes of tailings storage capacity to the operation, and represents the first completed Vision 2028 project.
At FWGR, commissioning is now underway on the expanded Driefontein 2 (DP2) plant. The new elution circuit and smelt house were commissioned on 14 July 2026, with the plant pouring its first gold on the same day. Once fully ramped up following commissioning, DP2 will increase throughput from 500 000 tonnes per month to 1.2 million tonnes per month.
Supporting this expansion is a 135-kilometre pipeline network, now approximately 95% complete, linking DP2, the Regional Tailings Storage Facility (RTSF) and the Libanon reclamation area. Construction of the Libanon reclamation pump station will start once the required water use licence has been received, completing the final link in the system.
The RTSF remains the centrepiece of Vision 2028. Designed as an 800-hectare, fully lined regional tailings storage facility, it will initially receive 1.2 million tonnes of tailings per month, with capacity to ultimately double up to 2.4 million tonnes per month. Once fully developed, it will accommodate up to 800 million tonnes of tailings, underpinning FWGR’s long-term production profile for decades to come.
The final project in the sequence is the Withok Tailings Storage Facility at ERGO. Once regulatory approvals have been secured, expected by December 2027 and following an estimated two years of construction, Withok will add around 310 million tonnes of deposition capacity, providing additional operational flexibility and extending the long-term optionality of ERGO.
Taken together, Daggafontein, DP2, the pipeline network and the RTSF are designed to increase DRDGOLD’s throughput capacity to around 2.85 million tonnes per month, and an estimated annual production profile of between 185 000 and 195 000 ounces, depending on throughput and extraction efficiencies.
Once Withok is commissioned, another 150 000 tonnes of deposition capacity is added, to take total throughput capacity to 3 million tonnes per month.
Importantly, the programme has been designed so that commissioning follows a carefully managed sequence rather than a single start-up event. Each project unlocks the next, protecting operational continuity while progressively increasing throughput and positioning the business for sustainable long-term growth.
“We’re now seeing years of planning and investment translate into operating assets,” says Niël. “Vision 2028 is creating the infrastructure that will support the next generation of DRDGOLD. As each project comes online, we’re not simply adding capacity, we’re strengthening the resilience of the business, improving our ability to generate free cash flow and creating a platform for long-term shareholder value.”