eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc local operation- Blanket Mine — reported a record quarterly gold production of 18 965 ounces for the third quarter to September 30, 2021, which was 25 percent ahead of same quarter last year.
This also represents a 192 percent increase in quarterly production compared to the 6 475 ounces recorded in the third quarter of 2006, when Caledonia acquired the mine.
Gold production for the nine months period to September 30, 2021 jumped 14 percent to 48 872 ounces compared to 42 887 ounces produced during the same period last year.
Caledonia chief executive officer Steve Curtis attributed the growth to improved production capacity at the Gwanda based mine following commissioning of its central shaft in March this year.
“I am delighted that this quarter we have once again set a new production record as Blanket begins to reap the rewards of the substantially increased production capacity following the commissioning of the Central Shaft in March 2021,” Curtis in an update for the quarter under review.
“The ramp-up in production towards our quarterly target of 20,000 ounces has met our best estimate and, consequently, we have been able to narrow our annual production guidance from 61-67 000 ounces to 65-67 000 ounces.
“When we acquired Blanket from Kinross in 2006 our production in the third quarter of 2006 was 6 475 ounces — the Company has come a long way since then. Central Shaft provides the infrastructure required to access the deeper resources at Blanket for many years before any new vertical shaft deepening needs to be considered.
“The extra hoisting capacity provided by the shaft is the foundation to the production build-up to 80 000 ounces from next year onwards.
“The completion of Central Shaft and the resultant increase in production also means that we are able to execute other areas of our growth strategy such as the agreement to acquire Maligreen that we announced last month. This is an exciting time for the Company and I look forward to continuing to update shareholders of our progress,” he said.
Last month, Caledonia announced that it entered into an agreement to purchase the mining claims over the Maligreen project, a property situated in the Gweru mining district in the Zimbabwe Midlands, from Pan African Mining (Private) Limited, a privately-owned Zimbabwean company, for a total cash consideration of US$4 million.
The property is estimated to contain a NI 43-101 compliant inferred mineral resource of approximately 940,000 ounces of gold.
While production guidance for the year to December 31, 2021 has been narrowed at the top end of previous guidance at 65 000 and 67 000 ounces, Caledonia still remains on track to achieve its production target of 80 000 ounces in 2022.
For the third quarter under review, Caledonia declared a US14 cents a share quarterly dividend.
