Caledonia Mining Corporation announces gold production from its 49 per cent owned subsidiary, the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. All numbers are expressed on a 100 per cent basis.
- Gold production in the first nine months of 2015 remains on track to achieve target production for 2015 of 42,000 ounces.
- 10,927 ounces of gold were produced during Q3 2015, representing a 5 per cent increase on the gold produced in Q2 2015 (10,401 ounces) and a 10.5 per cent increase on the gold produced in Q3 2014 (9,890 ounces). Production in the Quarter is based partly on mine assays and is subject to adjustment following third party assays.
Commenting on the production for Q3 2015, Steve Curtis, Caledonia's Chief Executive Officer said:
"The continued increase in production reflects the improved management control over grade and tonnage. The completion of the tramming loop in June 2015 has increased the underground haulage capacity and allows for an increase in development activity, which is expected to result in further increases in future production.
"Sinking of the no 6 Winze was completed in July and work on equipping the shaft is almost done, after which the horizontal development toward the ore bodies will commence. The start of initial production from the No. 6 Winze remains on target for January 2016.
"Work at Central Shaft continues as planned and the shaft collar is expected to reach a depth of 90 meters by the end of 2015.
"We are confident that the revised investment plan, which was announced on November 3, 2014, will result in progressive increases in production from 2016 onwards when we expect to see the first production from below 750 meters - initially from the No. 6 Winze and subsequently from the Central shaft."
Caledonia expects that its results for Q3 2015 will be released on November 12, 2015.
Caledonia is debt-free and at June 30, 2015 had cash of $23.7m. Blanket is a low-cost producer: in H1 of 2015 Blanket's on-mine costs were US$699 per ounce of gold produced and its all-in sustaining cost was US$984 per ounce of gold produced.
Source: http://www.caledoniamining.com/