Online Reporter
Zimpapers News Writer
Gold exploration and development in the Matabeleland region continues to yield significant results, with various mining firms uncovering substantial gold deposits in the region.
Matabeleland remains one of the country’s most strategically significant regions for gold production, playing a pivotal role in the country’s mining sector.
Rich in both historical and untapped mineral wealth, the region has increasingly become a focal point for deep-level exploration and investment by both local and foreign firms.
Its geological formations, particularly the greenstone belts, host some of the most promising gold deposits in Southern Africa.
Fresh from announcing a high-grade gold discovery earlier this month, metals exploration and gold production company, Kavango Resources has now reported a second very notable result at their Hillside project in Filabusi, Matabeleland South Province following a series of significant gold intercepts at the Bill’s Luck Gold Mine.
In a recent statement, Kavango revealed that drill hole BLDDUG006 intersected a gold-bearing structure at a vertical depth of 111.50 metres below the surface.
The assay results confirmed repeat grades of 13.60 grams per tonne (g/t) over 10.40 meters, spanning from 64.00m to 74.40m. This included particularly rich zones of 48.50g/t over 2.81m and 1.10g/t over 3.10m, underscoring the deposit’s promising grade.
The company noted that these results appear to confirm the presence of at least one high-grade “ore shoot” at Bill’s Luck that is open at depth.
Commenting on the findings, Kavango’s chief executive officer, Mr Ben Turney said it was very encouraging that the grade is increasing at depth.
“Historically, Bill’s Luck produced at 10g/t to Level 3. We don’t expect to produce at this grade using modern mining methods but the high grade is very good news as it means our 2.5g/t overall target looks very good.
“It’s very encouraging that the grade is increasing at depth. We will now start surface drilling to test the ore body more at depth and along strike. Bill’s Luck remains our third priority target, behind Steenbok and Nightshift, but it is the easiest for us to bring into production because of all the infrastructure that is already there,” he said.
Mr Turney noted that the objective of the surface drilling will be to define a gold resource large enough to support mining and processing operations for a minimum of three years.
“This result confirms that the main Bill’s Luck ore shoot remains open at depth and appears to be increasing in grade. Our team is highly encouraged by this, having demonstrated such strong potential with relatively limited drilling. We will now move forward confidently into the next phase of surface exploration.
“We will seek to confirm the width of the main Bill’s Luck ore shoot and test the next inferred ore shoot at Roscor. If successful, this work will underpin the investment case for the 200 tonne per day (tpd) pilot production plant. In parallel, we will continue underground drilling at Bill’s Luck for near-term mine planning. Construction of our 50tpd test production plant is already underway, with commissioning expected later this year,” he said.
Mr Turney further revealed that if all goes to plan, their goal is to scale gold production capacity at Bill’s Luck to 250tpd in the first half of 2026.
Kavango is exploring for gold deposits in Zimbabwe that have the potential to be developed into commercial-scale production quickly through modern mechanised mining and processing. The Company is targeting both open-pit and underground opportunities.
Kavango has two projects on the Filabusi greenstone belt, Hillside and Nara.
