Modern Mining August 2019

Sinking of the new Central Shaft at Blanket completed

would like to recognise the outstand- ing contribution of Caledonia’s technical staff, led by Dana Roets, Caledonia’s Chief Operating Officer, who have worked hard over the last five years to ensure that we have reached this point.”

Blanket, which was acquired by Caledonia in 2006 from Kinross, is one of Zimbabwe’s oldest gold mines, having started production in the early 1900s. To date, in excess of 1 million ounces of gold have been produced from the property. 

Caledonia Mining Corporation recently announced that the shaft sinking at the new Central Shaft at Blanket mine near Gwanda in Zimbabwe has been completed. The Central Shaft project – which has been undertaken in-house – has been in prog- ress since early 2015 and the company has spent approximately US$44 million sinking the new shaft from surface to a depth of over 1 200 m. The project now moves to the equip- ping phase prior to commissioning which is expected during the third quarter in 2020. Production from Blanket mine is then expected to progressively increase to the target of 80 000 ounces of gold per year from 2022 onwards. Caledonia expects the increased pro- duction, combined with economies of scale and lower future capital investment, will result in significant increases in Caledonia’s profit and distributable cash. “Completion of the shaft sinking is an important milestone in Caledonia’s invest- ment plan,” commented Steve Curtis, Caledonia’s Chief Executive Officer. “I

Headgear of the new Central Shaft at Blanket (photo: Caledonia Mining).