dyton mupawaenda
Michael Tome–Business Reporter
PADENGA Holdings expects to spend US$25 million on its mining business by the end of the current financial year to bolster its mining operations.
Padenga owns two business units —the gold mining the crocodile farming.
Through its gold mining subsidiary Dallaglio, the company owns Pickstone Peerless near Chegutu, which it acquired in 2014.
Dallaglio also operates Cordillera, a custom operation which provides milling services to artisanal miners in the Chegutu area within the vicinity of Pickstone Peerless Mine.
Dallaglio also acquired Eureka Mine in 2018.
Chief financial officer Mr Oliver Kamundimu said the company would invest a significant portion of the US$25 million in expanding the Pickstone Peerless underground gold mine at its Chegutu operation to tap into the potential high-grade gold reserves. Some of the capital will be used to re-equip and regenerate the mine.
The first phase of the expansion project was completed in August 2023, and commercial production has since begun.
This is expected to make a significant contribution to the group’s revenue and profits in the long term.
Mr Kamundimu indicated that the company would continue investing in its mining operations in the next financial year.
“By the end of the current year (2023), we will probably have spent around US$25 million, which will be channelled mainly into the development of the underground mine at Pickstone,” he said, adding “budgets are still being developed at the moment, but it probably looks like another US$15 million will go into capex for the mines in 2024.”
Dallaglio is bullish on gold production output from its two mines and is aiming to maintain the momentum it built in 2022.
Padenga reported revenue of US$74,4 million in the half-year period, a 31 percent increase over the US$57 million realised in the same period in 2023.
Dallaglio contributed 84 percent of the group’s total revenue in the half-year period, while the crocodile business contributed 16 percent.
The group’s revenue performance was largely due to substantial contributions from the Eureka gold mine and carryover skin sales from 2022.
Dallaglio is one of the top three gold producers in the country.
For the second year running, the Eureka Mine has delivered robust performance, contributing significantly to volume growth and profitability.
The mine was reopened as part of the Government’s initiative to partner with investors and revive all idle mines, as it pins its hopes on natural resources to rebuild the economy.
As such, Dallaglio spent around US$60 million to recapitalize the Eureka Mine.
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