Caledonia Mining producing at upper end of full-year guidance

Caledonia Mining updated the market on its gold production from the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe for the September quarter on Wednesday, narrowing its production guidance range for the year.

The AIM-traded firm reported record quarterly production of 18,965 ounces of gold, which was an increase of 25% on the 15,155 ounces produced in the same three months of 2020.

Production guidance for the year ending 31 December was narrowed to the top end of previous guidance, at 65,000 to 67,000 ounces.

Gold produced for the nine months ended 30 September totalled 48,872 ounces, which was 14% higher year-on-year.

Caledonia said it was on track to achieve its production target of 80,000 ounces in 2022.

“I am delighted that this quarter we have once again set a new production record as Blanket begins to reap the rewards of the substantially increased production capacity following the commissioning of the Central Shaft in March,” said chief executive officer Steve Curtis.

“The ramp-up in production towards our quarterly target of 20,000 ounces has met our best estimate and, consequently, we have been able to narrow our annual production guidance from 61,000 to 67,000 ounces, to 65,000 to 67,000 ounces.

“When we acquired Blanket from Kinross in 2006 our production in the third quarter of 2006 was 6,475 ounces - the company has come a long way since then.”

Curtis said Central Shaft provided the infrastructure required to access the deeper resources at Blanket for many years before any new vertical shaft deepening needed to be considered.

“The extra hoisting capacity provided by the shaft is the foundation to the production build-up to 80,000 ounces from next year onwards.

“The completion of the Central Shaft and the resultant increase in production also means that we are able to execute other areas of our growth strategy such as the agreement to acquire Maligreen that we announced last month.

“This is an exciting time for the company and I look forward to continuing to update shareholders of our progress.”

At 1536 BST, shares in Caledonia Mining were up 6.95% at 1,000p.