Blanket Mine production in line with targets
VFEX listed group, Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc’s local unit, Blanket Mine met its projected annual gold production targets for the financial year 2023 (FY23), despite a slow start to the year.
Statistics from the group show that the Gwanda based mine produced 75,416 gold ounces against a target of between 74,000 and 78,000 ounces for the year to December 31, 2023.
Group chief executive officer Mark Learmonth acknowledged the difficult first half of the year for the mining company.
“I am pleased that, after a challenging first half, we successfully met production guidance for the year, producing 75,416 gold ounces. Our 2024 guidance of 74,000 to 78,000 ounces assumes that Blanket will broadly maintain the production rate achieved in 2023 and reflects the prudent decision to suspend mining in lower margin areas which include lower grades and volumes, and higher costs,” he said in a performance review.
For the fourth quarter to December 31, 2023, Blanket Mine produced 20,172 ounces of gold. The mining firm is seeing the benefits of its investments into capacity expansion at the mining firm, which is seeing the mine improve on production efficiencies.
The group has invested in a central shaft together with alternative energy sources to offset the impacts of the obtaining erratic power supplies experienced in the country. Mr Learmonth indicated the group was not going to stop there but continue scouting for more opportunities to boost output.
“Our significant investment in Blanket over the past seven years and completion of the Central Shaft has nearly doubled production, extended the mine life and allowed the restart of underground exploration in 2023; in July we announced that the Eroica zone persists to depth and grades are significantly higher than previously thought.
“We continue to progress with the underground exploration programme and we expect to publish further exploration results in the first quarter of 2024 and a revised resource statement in the following quarter,” he said.
In terms of prospects, the group is maintaining the same projects of between 74,000 and 78,000 ounces of gold for FY24.
The company is also looking at a budgeted capital expenditure for the group in 2024 of $34,4 million, which includes planned exploration at Motapa and further work on the Bilboes feasibility studies. This comes as the company is also looking at becoming a multi-asset mining group in the country.
“Our wider capital expenditure programme continues to focus on unlocking value and delivering our multi-asset growth pipeline in Zimbabwe with Motapa and Bilboes, whilst maintaining a disciplined focus on cost and capital allocation.
“We continue to progress our feasibility studies for the Bilboes sulphide project with a view to determining the best option for Caledonia stakeholders, and I look forward to providing an update in due course,” said Mr Learmonth.