adminHarare Bureau
Blanket Mine has recorded a 6,5 percent growth in gold output for the first half year of 2013 compared to the same period last year on the back of a robust environment for the precious mineral. The mine is 51 percent owned by indigenous Zimbabweans and the remaining 49 percent is owned by Canadian firm Caledonia Mining Corporation.
The Gwanda-based gold mine became the first mine in the country to be fully indigenised after the central bank approved its indigenisation transactions in October last year.
In a statement released yesterday, Caledonia mine announced that gold produced during the six months to June rose to 22 064 ounces from 20 724 ounces during the same period last year.
In the second quarter of 2013, the mine’s production went up 10,7 percent to 11 592 ounces from 10 472oz in the first quarter.
The figure was 0.3 percent higher than the 11 560 ounces of gold produced in the second quarter of 2012.
“The gold production for the quarter is subject to minor revisions following the receipt of final assays for the last two deliveries to the refinery,” the group said.
Assays are qualitative or quantitative analyses of a metal or ore to determine its components.
The company said although the cash operating costs for the second quarter were unknown, they however stood at $669 an ounce in the first quarter and $605 in the last three months of 2012.
“Even at the higher number, Blanket remains an incredibly robust project, particularly in the current environment for gold,” the company said.
Blanket mine is expected to deliver 40 000 ounces of the precious metal this year. The company in January this year said it had plans to increase its annual gold production by 90 percent to 76 000 ounces in the next three years.
Blanket mine produces approximately 40 000 ounces of gold annually.
The gold mining company projected its capital investment to be at $37 million between 2013 and 2017 coming from internal cash flows.
Increased production was expected to come from the first three of Blanket Mine’s portfolio of 18 satellite properties that are expected to start production in the fourth quarter of this year.
Blanket Mine has 18 satellite properties, the furthest of which is 42km from the mine’s Gwanda plant on which there has been some small scale historic gold mining activity.
The company said the eventual rate of production from these properties would be determined by the success of ongoing exploration and mining development work.
Since 2009, the gold mine has quadrupled production and is now one of the most efficient gold operations on the continent.
Online Reporter