Caledonia Mining upgrades gold resources in Zimbabwe

Caledonia Mining today announced an upgrade to the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve base at its 64 per cent owned subsidiary, the Blanket mine in Zimbabwe.

The company said that the total Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves increased by 1% to 528,000 ounces (17 per cent increase including depletion of 84,925 ounces since last update) and the total Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources increased by 12% to 902,000 ounces (23 per cent increase including depletion).

Inferred Mineral Resources at Blanket have decreased by 10 per cent from 963,000 ounces, as at July 2018, to 866,000 ounces as at January 1, 2020. The decrease is due to approximately 18 per cent of Inferred Mineral Resources being converted to the M&I category and the lack of deep drilling exploration over the last 12 months awaiting the development of new drilling platforms on the lower levels via the recently commissioned Central Shaft.

The company said that the Blanket mine’s Mineral Resources have grown by approximately 86 per cent since 2011 despite mining over 400,000 ounces over this period. An updated Reserves and Resources report fully validates the company’s medium term production profile targeting 80,000 ounces per annum from 2022, Caledonia explained.